Why Companies Can't Find the Employees They Need - WSJ.com

Why Companies Can't Find the Employees They Need - WSJ.com

By PETER CAPPELLI

Andrea Levy

Everybody's heard the complaints about recruiting lately.

Read More

• Author Peter Cappelli Follows Up

More in Leadership: Human Resources

• Benefits That Benefit the Bottom Line
• How a Few Bad Apples Ruin Everything
• The Importance of Office Politics
• Five Ways Companies Can Build Trust
• Read the complete report .

Even with unemployment hovering around 9%, companies are grousing that they can't find skilled workers, and filling a job can take months of hunting.

Employers are quick to lay blame. Schools aren't giving kids the right kind of training. The government isn't letting in enough high-skill immigrants. The list goes on and on.

But I believe that the real culprits are the employers themselves.

With an abundance of workers to choose from, employers are demanding more of job candidates than ever before. They want prospective workers to be able to fill a role right away, without any training or ramp-up time.

Bad for Companies, Bad for Economy Read more....

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Flavorwire » 10 Deliciously Quirky Cookbooks

Flavorwire » 10 Deliciously Quirky Cookbooks

by Russ Marshalek. Posted on 11:30 am Wednesday Aug 29, 2012

Dirt Candy by Amanda Cohen and Ryan Dunlavey

It seems pretty straightforward, in essence: a cookbook’s purpose is to provide recipes and instructions on how to properly prepare various dishes. That’s why we were giddy when it was announced, seemingly years ago, that one of our favorite New York restaurants, the vegetable-focused Dirt Candy, would be releasing its first cookbook in the form of a graphic novel. Now that it’s finally out, the book has proven itself to be worth the wait: this may be the first and only cookbook to elicit the amount of joy and tears usually reserved for a compelling piece of literary fiction. To celebrate this truly unique work, we rounded up some of our other favorite quirky spins on the “cookbook” concept. Spoiler alert: you’re gonna get a lot of Harold McGee. Ever used any of these? Did we miss your favorite cookbook oddity/treasure? Let us know in the comments. Read more.

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How To Take Your Resume From “Blah” To “Wow” | Glassdoor Blog

How To Take Your Resume From “Blah” To “Wow” | Glassdoor Blog
Posted by Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, MRW • August 30th, 2012 • 

It seems so simple, doesn’t it? After all, who better knows where you’ve been and what you’ve done than you?  Open up your Word file and dump all that information into a pleasing format, forward it to a prospective employer or two, then sit back and wait for the phone to ring.

Before you hit “send” on your resume, there are a few things you may want to consider, or you may be waiting a very long time. Read more.

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U. of South Florida Professors Try 'University of Reddit' to Put Courses Online - Wired Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education

U. of South Florida Professors Try 'University of Reddit' to Put Courses Online - Wired Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education

August 29, 2012, 1:49 am

By Ben Pokross

 The social-news site Reddit has slowly grown a spin-off ”university” where anyone can offer free courses, and two professors at University of South Florida’s Honors College are trying the system to turn courses they’re teaching this fall into Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOC’s. Read more...

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Nico Carver …In Six | INALJ (I Need a Library Job)

Nico Carver …In Six | INALJ (I Need a Library Job)

August 29, 2012

By Naomi House

Reposted from 5/2/12
My interview with success story Nico

Naomi: How did you find your current job?
Nico: I first saw the job listed on the inalj daily digest! I immediately knew I wanted to apply. Over the next few days, many of my colleagues sent me the same job posting. I made sure to have many sources of information in my job hunt, so that no opportunity would be missed. It’s good to have a safety net!

Naomi: Favorite library you have been to?
Nico: I like small libraries. My favorite is the Pondok Pekak Lending Library in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia. When I was studying abroad, Pondok Pekak was my only source of books in English. The smaller selection of materials made me much more likely to browse and read books I wouldn’t have found otherwise. Some examples that profoundly impacted my thinking: Kōbō Abe’s Woman in the Dunes, Gregory Bateson’s Steps to an Ecology of Mind, Lynn Margulis’s Symbiosis as a Source of Evolutionary Innovation. Read MORE...

Tumblrarian 101: Tumblr for Libraries and Librarians

Tumblrarian 101: Tumblr for Libraries and Librarians

Tumblr got me a job.

Being intimidated by the prospect of a “full-size” blog, I joined Tumblr in February 2011. Since then I’ve shamelessly promoted my “name” and stalked down as many libraries/librarians on the site as I could find. I’ve connected with libraries, librarians, library students, publishers, writers, readers, Doctor Who fanatics, and cat lovers. I even linked up with LJ and got to write my first “Backtalk” piece.

Days later, my now current employer reached out after reading the piece, complimented my writing, and told me about an opening at their company. I was in immediately for an interview, and a week or so after that, received an offer. Just like that, I’m a working librarian. Read more....

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8 Steps for Burying Digital Dirt | CAREEREALISM

8 Steps for Burying Digital Dirt | CAREEREALISM

August 29, 2012 · By Kristin Johnson

When was the last time you Googled yourself? Some of my clients never have. They’ve just never thought there would be anything out there. But, I’ve Googled them, and they were surprised at what I found. So has every employer they’ve been trying to interview with. Yup. This could be making or breaking the hiring deal for you!

Employers want to be sure their candidates don’t come with any baggage – legal, moral, financial, or otherwise. But, it’s not just about there being a lack of something bad about them online. Employers want to see something noteworthy. It’s important to have a powerful, positive presence. Read more....

How Libraries Empower Women, Strengthen Healthcare, and Bridge the Education Gap | Impatient Optimists

How Libraries Empower Women, Strengthen Healthcare, and Bridge the Education Gap | Impatient Optimists
Ari Katz

August 27, 2012

When you think of a library, what comes to mind? Row after row of books? The Dewey Decimal System? Kids but no adults? Those stereotypes are outdated.  Around the world, libraries are on the front lines of innovative development. 

More than 230,000 public libraries exist in developing and transitioning countries right now. But why is that important? Because public libraries are a trusted information resource at the heart of communities.  And it’s no longer possible to talk about development without talking about information. As that community hub, libraries are being applied in unique ways to improve lives and communities.

Libraries were the first program of the Gates Foundation, and Beyond Access is one of the ways that work has evolved. Building on the learning of the past 15 years, Beyond Access, is working to ensure libraries are no longer left out of development efforts. 

Consider just a few examples of the ways in which public libraries are already making a difference:Read the whole article.

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Pushing Through The Perils of Teaching Online - ProfHacker - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Pushing Through The Perils of Teaching Online - ProfHacker - The Chronicle of Higher Education

By Doug Ward

Photo Mountaineer in a Paradise Glacier ice cave, Mount Rainier National Park by Flickr user University of Washington Digital Collections / No known copyright restrictions

[This is a guest post by Doug Ward, an associate professor of journalism and the Budig Professor of Writing at the University of Kansas. You can find him online at www.kuediting.com and www.journalismtech.com, and follow him on Twitter @kuediting. Doug has written several guest posts before, most recently on grading with voice on an iPad.--@jbj]

I knew the student evaluations from my spring online class would be harsh, but that harshness exceeded anything I had imagined.

The class was disorganized, students said again and again.

The professor was distant and uninvolved, others growled.

Several students dismissed my attempt to promote peer learning, complained about a lack of feedback, moaned about the added cost of an online class, snarled about my ability as a teacher. One even suggested that I was unfit to teach.

This was unfamiliar territory. In my march toward tenure, I had consistently received stellar teaching evaluations. I throw myself into classes and experiment with new material, techniques and technologies. I work at learning the strengths and weaknesses of my students, always making time for them and learning about their aspirations. That has paid off, not only with tenure but with an award as the college journalism and mass communication teacher of the year.

I bring that up to offer perspective, not to boast. On the one hand, I was being told I was among the best of the best teachers. On the other hand, many students told me I was a failure online.
So where did I go wrong? Please read more...

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Welcoming Words to the Latest Class of Library Science Students (Now Get Crackin’) « Agnostic, Maybe

Welcoming Words to the Latest Class of Library Science Students (Now Get Crackin’) « Agnostic, Maybe  August 27, 2012 by Andy

Right now across the country, there are new graduate student arriving in the classroom (both real and virtual) to start their academic journey towards a Master’s degree in Library Science. It’s hard for me to believe that I only graduated six years ago and have only been on the job in a librarian capacity for five years (this September will be my fifth year anniversary). It certainly has been a roller coaster ride for me in those five years and has taken me in directions that I didn’t think I would be ending up. After struggling with a previous career in commercial horticulture and a misfire by way of a year in law school, it is been a relief to finally find my niche in the world.
As such, I’d to offer advice to the incoming MLS class in the form that most commonly unsolicited counsel takes these days: a blog post from a peer in the profession. So, without further ado, here’s what I advise the newest and latest class of librarians. Read article.

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Book Reviewers for Hire Meet a Demand for Online Raves - NYTimes.com

Book Reviewers for Hire Meet a Demand for Online Raves - NYTimes.com

By DAVID STREITFELD

Todd Jason Rutherford inside his home in Bixby, Okla. He says that he is now suspicious of all online reviews — whether of books or of anything else. 

TODD RUTHERFORD was 7 years old when he first understood the nature of supply and demand. He was with a bunch of other boys, one of whom showed off a copy of Playboy to giggles and intense interest. Todd bought the magazine for $5, tore out the racy pictures and resold them to his chums for a buck apiece. He made $20 before his father shut him down a few hours later. Read more

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Book Scholarship for NYC Library School Students | Urban Librarians Unite

Book Scholarship for NYC Library School Students | Urban Librarians Unite

Book Scholarship for NYC Library School Students

Posted on August 27, 2012

Write the best essay and you get $200 for books and supplies for your MLS/MSLIS degree!
What is the role of the librarian in the city?

Urban Librarians Unite is sponsoring an essay contest to award a book scholarship to one student pursuing a library/information sciences degree in New York City. The contest is simple, write an essay on the topic above: What is the role of the librarian in the city? Read more

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The Morgan Library & Museum - Current Exhibitions - Churchill: The Power of Words

The Morgan Library & Museum - Current Exhibitions - Churchill: The Power of Words

Winston Churchill, 1941
© Estate of Yousuf Karsh

Sir Winston Churchill's impact upon the twentieth century is difficult to overestimate. A master orator and writer, Churchill's use of spoken and written words will be explored in this exhibition that covers more than a half century of his life—from Victorian childhood letters to his parents, to Cold War correspondence with President Eisenhower, and featuring some of his most famous wartime oratory. Drawn from the Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge, the presentation uses drafts, speaking notes, personal and official correspondence, public statements, and recordings from some of his most compelling speeches and broadcasts as lenses to examine the main events in Churchill's life. Of particular focus will be Churchill's lifelong relationship with the United States, homeland of his Brooklyn-born mother, from first visit in 1895 to award of Honorary Citizenship in 1963; and the ways in which he used the written and spoken word to develop, complement and advance his political career.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the Morgan and the Churchill Archives Centre have also launched DiscoverChurchill.org. The site, created to generate interest in Churchill among a younger audience and educators, features fun facts, videos, quotes, and links to Churchill-related content. Special gallery discussions for teens, designed and led by high school student Isaac Norwich, will be offered on Wednesdays throughout July and August. See the complete schedule and purchase tickets here.

Read more....more

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Link Love - Why is linking out good for you (by Zemanta - social blogging) on Vimeo

Link Love - Why is linking out good for you (by Zemanta - social blogging) on Vimeo

Link Love - Why is linking out good for you (by Zemanta - social blogging) from zemanta on Vimeo.

What's a library database? | RMIT University

Librarians Abroad: Lynn Yarmey, Data Curator | Peer to Peer Review

Librarians Abroad: Lynn Yarmey, Data Curator | Peer to Peer Review
By Dorothea Salo on August 23, 2012 



My students are their own people; what makes them amazing comes from them, not me. I see them for two or three semesters at most. Still they enrich my life considerably, and when I manage to enrich theirs in return, I’m happy.
With the “Librarians Abroad” series, I’d like to introduce Library Journal readers to various information professionals who were once my students. I’m intentionally choosing professionals who work either entirely outside libraries and archives, or who hold somewhat less traditional positions inside libraries and archives. I don’t believe all the doom-and-gloom talk about libraries, librarians, and the MLS; I prefer to demonstrate the expanded and still-expanding horizons of the information professions.
(If I once taught you, and you fit this rubric, drop me a line! I’d be pleased to interview you.)

Lynn Yarmey

It is my honor and my pleasure, then, to introduce Lynn Yarmey, who bravely took a chance on my first-time “topics in collection development” course at the University of Illinois. Read whole article.

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Students Find E-Textbooks 'Clumsy' and Don't Use Their Interactive Features - Wired Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Students Find E-Textbooks 'Clumsy' and Don't Use Their Interactive Features - Wired Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education:

August 22, 2012, 10:49 am

By Angela Chen

[Creative Commons-licensed Flickr photo by julietteculver]

 Several universities have recently tried a new model for delivering textbooks in hopes of saving students money: requiring purchase of e-textbooks and charging students a materials fee to cover the costs. A recent report on some of those pilot projects, however, shows that many students find the e-textbooks “clumsy” and prefer print. Read whole article.

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Ask Our Experts: Is it My Resume or My Age? | CAREEREALISM

Ask Our Experts: Is it My Resume or My Age? | CAREEREALISM
August 23, 2012 · By Ariella Coombs

Resume age image from Stock.xchng

 Each week, we ask our experts to answer a career question on behalf of our readers.
This week’s question is about resumes and age discrimination from employers:

I am a boby boomer and I’m having a hard time finding a job. Why do I keep getting e-mails from companies saying thank you? You know it means NO. What is wrong? Is it my age? – S

Here’s what our approved career experts had to say:

‘Thank You’ Doesn’t Necessarily Mean ‘No’.. Read the whole article.

 

 

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Ins and Outs of Publishing Your Book via the Web - NYTimes.com

Ins and Outs of Publishing Your Book via the Web - NYTimes.com

Minh Uong/The New York Times

By ALAN FINDER

Published: August 15, 2012 

 

Not long ago, an aspiring book writer rejected by traditional publishing houses had only one alternative: vanity publishing. For $5,000 or $10,000, or sometimes much more, he could have his manuscript edited and published, provided that he agreed to buy many copies himself, often a few thousand or more. They typically ended up in the garage.  Read whole article.

 

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How to Write a Hot Cover Letter | CAREEREALISM

How to Write a Hot Cover Letter | CAREEREALISM
August 22, 2012 · By Six Sigma Online

How write hot cover letter image from Shutterstock

 “Focus,” said the master, “and the world will be yours…”

In today’s fast paced working environments focus has become a four-letter word. In a world where “multitask,” “app,” and 140 character tweets are creating a sensation nation that lives on caffeine, energy drinks, and coconut water, most HR professionals and employers destroyed their ability to focus years ago.

“I can always be interrupted,” and “I regularly juggle 15 projects with no problem,” are the new words of wisdom. There isn’t any time to think and meditate deeply, and there probably isn’t time to read your cover letter. All marketing begins with Audience and unless you are applying to be a Yoga instructor, the likelihood is that your audience isn’t patient. READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE.

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