What is a Purple Squirrel? Unless you are in the recruiting world, you probably haven’t heard of the purple squirrel.  So, what is it?  In the recruiting world, the purple squirrel represents the perfect candidate with all the exact experience, qualifications, skills, education, and anything else needed to fill an open job.  Because there is no such thing as a

With all the articles that exist that suggest best practices for using LinkedIn, I thought it was necessary to discuss the wrong way to use LinkedIn. Given that there are so many job seekers, recent college graduates, and professionals still trying to grasp how to make the most of their LinkedIn experience, many may still not understand what they might

Re-think the Resume Career professionals and students alike need to re-think the resume.  The term resume derives from the English word “resumen” which means summation and from the French, “Resumer,” which means to summarize.  However, resumes should never be written to simply summarize; they should be written to persuade.  Resumes have obviously changed but the change is not only in purpose;

Insourcing American Jobs Who is insourcing American jobs?  Well, the hope is that more fortune 500 companies will decide to do this as President Obama attempts to meet with top company executives to convince them to bring jobs back to the United States.  Interestingly enough, in my last blog article, I posed the question, “Is the American Dream Shattered?”  Obama

The Skills Gap in the U.S. Economy There has been much talk about the skills gap that exists among the American work force with estimates of 3 million job openings unfilled because of the lack of skilled labor.  It is also widely known that the U.S. ranks poorly relative to the world when comparing student scores on standardized tests in

This is a guest post from Cayden Stein. With the New Year comes renewed hope, and for many, the time of year also indicates a time of change. Many strive to better themselves through New Year’s Resolutions, often vowing to lose weight or to quit smoking, but one of the most popular resolutions this year has been to find a new

For the past seven years, I have had the privilege of working in higher education.  I started at Collins College as a Career Advisor in 2005 and established my career becoming the Director of Career Services in 2008 where our team went on to be recognized three consecutive years in a row for our service to students by the Arizona Private

The World Has Changed As we approach the new year, it’s a good time to reflect on the past.  2011 was a tough year for many and 2012 is likely to be the beginning of a long-term transition for many job seekers and companies adjusting to all the changes that have occurred in the marketplace.  Although unemployment in the U.S.

The holiday season is known for shopping, good food, and holiday parties.  Whether it’s an ugly sweater party or a white elephant gift exchange, don’t be a scrooge or a grinch – attend!  If you’re the type who doesn’t like going to holiday parties, consider how it can be a great job search method.  Here are some reasons why you

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that the user provides. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text.  Some of you probably already know where I’m going with this but for those who are still scratching your head, let me explain. The Importance of Online Search More than ever,