I felt this was worth posting on my blog. I have been reading the Herman Trend Alert for some time and have posted one other article from them on my blog before so I hope you don’t mind me posting their most recent article. I encourage you to subscribe to their newsletter by jumping over to their site, Herman Group

Justin

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
We at the The Herman Group wish you and your personal-, as well as workplace-family a very happy new year. We look forward to continuing to serve you in the months and years to come.

Herman Trend Alert: 2007 Workforce/Workplace Forecast December 27, 2006

Each year at this time, The Herman Group issues its annual forecast. Typically, we have offered an abbreviated version. This year, we offer you our full forecast for the coming year:

1. Job Hopping to Accelerate
Fueled by increasing job creation and the fact that more than half of the United States areas have flipped to being sellers’ markets, dissatisfied workers worldwide with a wider variety of choices will choose to leave their employers in greater numbers. Particularly, younger workers will feel less attached to their employers and have the confidence to jump to another job.

2. Employers Looking for Better Efficiencies
Employers large and small will continue to look for ways to economize and drive more profit to the bottom line. We are already seeing an increasing lack of tolerance for workers who have been resting on their laurels (and/or relationships) for years. Finally, there is a growing awareness of the high cost of employee turnover, and employers worldwide will seek innovative approaches to retention.

3. Older Workers More Highly Valued
Following the lead of a few model employers, public and private sector employers desiring to retain the intellectual capital in their older workers will offer more flexible work arrangements to these workers. This flexibility will include phased retirement, part-time work, and seasonal work (at a significant premium in salary), all with a benefits package that makes it worthwhile to keep working.

4. Employers Will Embrace New Technologies to Do More with Less
Employers are increasingly applying new technologies to increase profits. Examples of this trend include the adoptions of self-check-out in supermarkets and self-check-in at hotels and airports. The development and implementation of these new technologies will require more highly skilled people.

5. Business Communities Will Address their Dissatisfaction with Schools
Employers, dissatisfied with the preparation of recent graduates, will be motivated to take action. An increasing number of community initiatives will address these issues. The effectiveness of these initiatives will depend on the community support of students, parents, and the local school system. Expect to see more mentoring and outreach to youth.

6. Continuing Increases in Training and Development
Employees at all levels will be expected to participate in more training. More employers will require this investment in self-development for the mutual benefit of both parties. Part of the rationale for this increasing investment is employers’ inability to find candidates with the right experience, so they will have to “grow their own.”

7. Offshoring and Reverse-offshoring Will Continue to Increase
Not heeding the experience of other employers or the Gartner Study, some employers chasing the dream of increasing profitability will continue to try offshoring. In the meantime, companies in India and elsewhere will engage in reverse-offshoring, hiring and training U.S. graduates in other countries at foreign local scale.

8. Using Technology and Business Intelligence, Recruiting will Morph
Using more sophisticated technology like virtual video interviews and advanced pre-employment assessments, the Internet will facilitate advances in the technology for recruiting we could only dream about in the past. Through video interviews (see the Herman Trend Alert of January 3, 2007), employers will save hours of interviewing time and enjoy a higher level of EEO compliance. In addition, wise employers will engage leading edge firms to provide business intelligence that will help them make better hiring and salary decisions.
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Herman Trend Alerts are written by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, strategic
business futurists, Certified Management Consultants, authors, and
professional speakers. Archived editions are posted at http://www.hermangroup.com/archive.html

I recently participated in the ProBlogger.net group writing project. The subject was, Reviews and Predictions. You can read my contribution to this effort by clicking here, Web 2.0 in 2007.

Hundreds of people posted about their perdictions and forecasts for 2007 and beyond. The topics were broad but included, blogging, travel, Christmas, careers, web 2.0, China, politics, and even shoes. I thought it was a great experience to be apart of a worldwide blogging experiment. Below, please find a few of the posts I think are worth reading.

Web 2.0 in 2007.
Blogging Lessons Learning in 2007
Online Travel in 2006
China 2007: Thoughts and Predictions
Top 8 YouTube Videos of 2006
Top 5 Food Business Trends For 2007
28 Things I did to Improve Traffic to My Site in 2006
Looking Ahead: Tech Predictions for 2007

There were hundreds of more posts to go through. I couldn’t go through all of them but I encourage you to read as many as you can at ProBlogger

Merry Christmas!

Since it is almost Christmas I thought I would post the short message I am giving tomorrow night at our church’s Christmas eve service. Enjoy!
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Let us consider tonight one aspect of the birth of Christ that is often overlooked. Luke talks about the shepherds for 12 verses in the infamous second chapter of his Gospel. It can be easy to overlook these fairly mysterious characters because of the obvious emphasis on the birth of the Savior, but let us focus in on their contribution to the marvelous event that took place over 2,000 years ago.

Here are a few fast facts about the shepherds:

They were chosen by God to be the first evangelists about the birth of the Savior. After they saw Jesus they were compelled to go and tell others about Him.

Verse 17 and 18 says, Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the sayings which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

They, like us, were going about their business in the fields they have probably roamed a thousand times before that night. Their animals were probably close by, or at least close enough for them to keep an eye on them. They were no doubt fighting the cold dessert air, and possibly making small talk about the day-to-day events that were consuming their thoughts; their family, their kids, their home, their jobs, their money.
And then, Behold an angel of the lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
This sudden turn of events caused them to be afraid, which would have been the natural reaction I believe for all of us. Think about where they were. They were roaming a field with animals. It is quiet, dark, maybe windy, and even cold. They probably couldn’t see much more than what the moonlight would have provided. Then all of a sudden this angel appears to them with the glory of the Lord showing around them. I would have jumped too! We are lucky these men didn’t have heart attacks right there on the spot. You would have been afraid to.

These men were normal everyday Jewish men who had been hearing all of their life about the coming Messiah. They had heard the priests read from the Law about their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They had heard the stories about how God delivered their people from the hand of the Egyptians. They knew about Moses, and Joshua, and David, Solomon, Saul, the prophets, etc… They knew about when Joshua worshipped the Commander of the Lord’s army before they conquered Jericho, and when Moses was communing with Lord on the mountain to receive the Law, and Jacob wrestling with angel all night.

They had heard about the kings who ruled Israel, and how the Savior would be born of the lineage of David. They had heard that he would be born in Bethlehem. They heard him called the BRANCH, the Bright and morning star. They knew he was referred to as the Lilly of the Valley, Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah-Rophe, Jehovah-Nissi, Jehovah-Shalom, and of course Jehova- Elohim, the Lord our Shepherd. But the fact of the matter was these were normal everyday shepherds tending to their flocks in the cold dessert night near a little town that no one cared about under Roman rule. What could they possibly contribute to the entrance of the Savior of the World?

We know that God’s ways are higher than our ways, and that we don’t fully understand why He does what he does, but it is clear that he is interested in using the simple of this world to accomplish his plans. He is interested in using the lowly in spirit, the humble, and of course the ready and willing.

These shepherds met the criteria. They were the simplest of simple. Most importantly they were ready and willing. They were not only watching their flocks that night but they were watching for those who might do their animals or their fellow shepherds harm. If some problems arose they were willing and ready to do what needed to be done to keep order. This willingness and alertness, you would assume, prepared them to act swiftly when a heavenly visitor forever changed their “normal night,” the angel Gabriel.

I started out by saying; I like the shepherds because they are more like us than any of the other people in the story of Jesus’ birth. They were normal people doing the job God had given them to do. The difference between them and us was how they reacted to the opportunity that was set before them. They were looking that night, not for an angel to appear before them, but they were looking for whatever God was going to set before them. In an instant their night was shaken and they were forced to rise to the occasion to participate as witnesses of the birth of the Messiah. They acted wholly on faith to search out that stable in this simple town of Bethlehem where the angle said the Messiah would be. This Savior was not draped in blue robes, or surrounded by pomp and circumstance. No when they found him he was wrapped in the lowest form of clothing, swaddling cloths, and guarded by the two teenagers God used to bring His son into the world. It must have been quite the site these shepherds saw when they open that stable door. Mary and Joseph holding Jesus in a lowly barn.

On this Christmas Eve it would behoove all of us to be a little bit more like the shepherds. We are already like them in our normalcy, but we all could be little bit more like them in our openness, our willingness, and our ability to react when God puts opportunities in front of us.

Merry Christmas!

What do you think of this? Would you hire someone who willing put this video resume together? Does a video like this make him more or less attractive to an IT department? (He is trying to land an IT job in Seattle Washington.)

2007 is poised to be the year of personal branding for the job-searching world.

This trend was already seen during 2006 but with the continued advancement and acceptance of tools like blogging, podcasting, wiki’s, MySpace, etc… we will continue to see job seekers turn to these tools for help when looking for a job.

How is a jobseeker suppose to set themselves apart from the crowd if they simply use an online resume or even a resume in Microsoft Word format? Everyone looks the same. They can only use text, bold letters, bullet points, and italics. Everyone does this, so how do you stand out? How does a jobseeker prove that recruiters that they are knowledgeable in their field and they have truly accomplished great accolades?

I believe 2007 we will begin to see job seekers turn to tools such as blogs, podcasts, wiki’s, and social networking sites to help themselves stand out from the crowd. For those of us who have been hanging around this web 2.0 world for a couple of years now you may think my prediction is behind the times, but I know for a fact that the large majority of people still do no understand the power of the web 2.0 tools, much less understand how they can improve their job seeking abilities. 2007 will change all of that.

Not only will job seekers begin to use these tools more often but also the recruiters who look for these job seekers will begin to accept these tools as valuable sourcing methods. Are some recruiters already using these tools? Yes, but large majorities are not. 2007 will prove to be a year of continued growth and acceptance in the recruiting world of web 2.0.

I guess the larger question is what tools will 2007 bring that will continue to change the world of web 2.0 that job seekers and recruiters can use to help them reach their goals? I guess we will have to wait until 2008 to answer that question.

I have seen this post floating around the blogosphere and thought it was worth posting here.

Micahel Wade from Execupundit

The Career Manifesto

1. Unless you’re working in a coal mine, an emergency ward, or their equivalent, spare us the sad stories about your tough job. The biggest risk most of us face in the course of a day is a paper cut.

2. Yes, your boss is an idiot at times. So what? (Do you think your associates sit around and marvel at your deep thoughts?) If you cannot give your boss basic loyalty, either report the weasel to the proper authorities or be gone.

3. You are paid to take meaningful actions, not superficial ones. Don’t brag about that memo you sent out or how hard you work. Tell us what you achieved.

4. Although your title may be the same, the job that you were hired to do three years ago is probably not the job you have now. When you are just coasting and not thinking several steps ahead of your responsibilities, you are in dinosaur territory and a meteor is coming.

5. If you suspect that you’re working in a madhouse, you probably are. Even sociopaths have jobs. Don’t delude yourself by thinking you’ll change what the organization regards as a “turkey farm.” Flee.

6. Your technical skills may impress the other geeks, but if you can’t get along with your co-workers, you’re a litigation breeder. Don’t be surprised if management regards you as an expensive risk.

7. If you have a problem with co-workers, have the guts to tell them, preferably in words of one syllable.

8. Don’t believe what the organization says it does. Its practices are its real policies. Study what is rewarded and what is punished and you’ll have a better clue as to what’s going on.

9. Don’t expect to be perfect. Focus on doing right instead of being right. It will simplify the world enormously.
10.If you plan on showing them what you’re capable of only after you get promoted, you need to reverse your thinking.

I have been meaning to post about a band that a few of my friends are in for a couple of weeks now, but better late than never. The Mike Duncan Project is the name of the band; I posted about them a few months ago but that was before their CD offically launched and before they launched their new web site.

Mike and the band have a great sound that I think everyone will enjoy! They are a band with a message of Hope in a troubled world. Check out their CD cover in this post and then go by their new album.

justin driscoll

I have been very lax in my blogging lately so I apologize. I don’t vary much on this blog from the topics of job searching, career development, workforce development, but I felt compelled to give you some insight into what I have been thinking lately about Christmas! I hope you can relate.

Even though the real meaning of Christmas has nothing to do with shopping and parties it seems like those are those only two things I do this time of year. Don’t get me wrong I love going to go Christmas parties but the shopping is something I would rather avoid. Is it just me, or does it seem like the older I get the less I like “stuff.” Sure, I like my electronics; iPod, MacBook, Treo, and a maybe a few other toys but that is really about it. My mother keeps asking me what I want for Christmas, and I keep saying, I don’t need anything. I really don’t. Do I want a few things? Sure, but I don’t actually need anything.

I am amazed at the stories I hear from other people about how much money they are spending on Christmas, buying this and buying that. For what? The truth of the matter is most of us will look at all of the “stuff” we are given on Christmas morning and think to ourselves, “I like all this stuff, but I would really like X.” You can fill in the blank about whatever X is. That feeling of dissatisfaction on a day where our stuff is supposed to fill us up can be quite confusing.

Here’s the bottom line:

“Stuff” is not what Christmas is about and it will not satisfy any of us. It is temporary and passing away.

The real meaning of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world Jesus Christ. We can all say Happy Holiday’s all we want but we cannot avoid the fact that the real meaning of Christmas is Jesus and not how much stuff we buy for each other.

This Christmas I encourage you to forget about your stuff and concentrate on the One who is bigger than your stuff. Concentrate on the One who is worth more than all of our “stuff” put together. Remember, Jesus was born so that you could have life on this earth and more importantly eternal life!

Merry Christmas; and I say again, Merry CHRISTmas!

justin

Yesterday I was given a large spiral document entitled: Building a Foundation for Tomorrow – Skills Standards for Information Technology; a very long title for a very big book.

The point I want to make in this post is that there is nothing new under the sun.  Solomon really did know what he was talking about in Ecclesiastes.

This report was written in 1997 by the NorthWest Center for Emerging Technologies, Regional Advanced Technology Education Consortium, and Bellevue Community College to determine the skills sets needed for information technology professionals.  The data was collected from over 200 industry professionals. This report was written for one industry but the skills they determined useful for this industry are nearly the same skills other reports deem important for every industry.

The skills they deem as important, back in 1997, for information technology professionals were:

Foundation Skills

Basic skills (reading, writing, arithmetic, etc.)

Thinking Skills

Personal Qualities

Workplace Competencies

Effective workers can productively use:

Resources

Interpersonal Skills

Information

Systems

Technology

Would you agree that these skills are very important in 2006?  We may have different names for these skills today but you get the idea.

This report was issued nearly 10 years ago but the information still holds true.  Even though we have experienced great change in our world since 1997 people are still the same.  We still need people to work in our companies who have strong foundational skills in order to succeed.  You cannot be successful without a good foundation.  The technical skills, the workplace skills can be learned but it is hard to teach someone strong foundational skills.

The old saying still holds true: the more things change, the more they stay the same

I thought I would share a link to an article where I was quoted as an author for the first. In this Sunday’sPittsburgh Tribune Review. The Trib, as it is know here in Pittsburgh, is the second largest paper by distribution size in the Pittsburgh area. Local writer Bill Loeffler from the Trib did a great job writing the article. Along with me, he interviewed a few college career counselors, and a human resources representative, to get our perspective on how students can use career services to further their career goals earlier in their college career.

He brought out the fact, through the interviews, that many students do not focus on their careers until they have to; which is usually after graduation. The article is a great resource for any student in college or high school and that has not begun thinking about their future career.

Click here to read the whole article.