.JOBS Charter Compliance Coalition Applauds ICANN’s Delivery of Firm Breach Notice to Employ Media LLC Regarding Improper .JOBS Expansion

The .JOBS Charter Compliance Coalition (the “Coalition”) today applauds the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN”) for delivering a strongly worded breach notice to Employ Media regarding its improper expansion of the .JOBS Top-Level Domain (“TLD”).  The breach notice details how Employ Media, along with its alliance partner DirectEmployers Association and its sponsoring organization The Society for Human Resource Management (“SHRM”), failed to operate and manage the .JOBS TLD in a manner that was compliant with the .JOBS Charter.  The breach notice is posted on ICANN’s website at http://www.icann.org/en/correspondence/jeffrey-to-johnson-fassett-27feb11-en.pdf.      

The .JOBS Charter Compliance Coalition was formed in May 2010 to address concerns that Employ Media LLC’s planned Phased Allocation Program would violate the terms of the .JOBS Charter.  The members of the Coalition include:

1. AHA Solutions (American Hospital Association);
2. American Society of Association Executives;
3. American Society of Civil Engineers;
4. American Staffing Association;
5. Boxwood Technology, Inc.;
6. International Association of Employment Web Sites;
7. Twenty-three individual members of the International Association of Employment Web Sites, including Careerbuilder, CollegeRecruiter.com, Dice, HigherEdJobs, Indeed, JobG8, Jobing, VetJobs, and WorkinSports.com;
8. Monster Worldwide, Inc.;
9. Newspaper Association of America; and
10. Shaker Recruitment Advertising & Communications.

One of the most significant Charter violations identified by ICANN is the operation of the so-called “Dot Jobs Universe,” a series of “integrated employment domains” that has been the subject of many “too-good-to-be-true” promises over the past several months by Employ Media and DirectEmployers Association.  The Dot Jobs Universe was created when Employ Media and DirectEmployers Association teamed up to seize approximately forty thousand domain names ending in the .jobs suffix.  This surreptitious transaction between the alliance partners temporarily gave DirectEmployers Association the ability to erroneously claim to “own and operate” the .JOBS TLD.  ICANN stated in the notice, however, that the operation of the Dot Jobs Universe is “inconsistent with the purpose stated in the .JOBS Charter and stated to the ICANN community” and “serve[s] the interests of [DirectEmployers Association], as well as Employ Media and SHRM rather than the interests of the human resource management professionals.”  ICANN called on Employ Media to take immediate actions to implement policies that would effectively terminate the operation of the Dot Jobs Universe.  In sum, through its breach notice, ICANN has correctly and definitively concluded that the .JOBS Charter does not permit .JOBS domain names to be used to operate independent job boards. 

In addition, ICANN admonished SHRM and Employ Media for failing to establish meaningful registration restrictions regarding which types of persons or entities could register second-level domain names within the .JOBS TLD.  ICANN determined in the notice that Employ Media and SHRM were “exploiting” the Charter language “at the detriment of some participants of the human resources community” and “the loose restrictions established by Employ Media and SHRM appear to exclusively serve the financial interests of Employ Media and SHRM.”  SHRM’s actions appear to contradict its contractual obligation as the sponsor of the .JOBS TLD, which is to act independently and in the best interests of the international human resource management community.

ICANN’s breach notice to Employ Media is the product of an extensive review process by ICANN’s Contractual Compliance Department.  In December, the ICANN Board directed ICANN staff to closely monitor Employ Media’s compliance with the .JOBS Charter, and ICANN’s breach notice reflects the overwhelming public evidence of material violations of the .JOBS Charter by Employ Media, its alliance partner, DirectEmployers Association and its sponsoring organization, SHRM.  ICANN has given Employ Media thirty (30) calendar days to cease its non-compliant use of the .JOBS TLD.  If Employ Media fails to cure its breach within the allotted time period, ICANN may terminate the .JOBS Registry Agreement it entered into with Employ Media.

Peter Weddle, Executive Director of the International Association of Employment Web Sites, stated, “While Employ Media and DirectEmployers Association have created many false expectations about the Dot Jobs Universe, ICANN’s strong stance is a victory for the Internet community, as well as for employers and job seekers.  First, the Dot Jobs Universe was not an innovation but rather an unprecedented attempt by a registry operator to misappropriate an entire TLD for itself and its alliance partner in blatant disregard of ICANN’s rules.  Fair and honest competition is welcome in the online recruitment industry, but a TLD operator must be held to the commitments it makes to the Internet community, and upon which ICANN’s approval rests.  This principle is particularly important as ICANN prepares to expand the domain name space by hundreds of new TLDs.  Second, Employ Media and DirectEmployers Association can no longer infringe the trademark rights of third parties by thoughtlessly launching numerous .JOBS sites with names that are confusingly similar to those of long established enterprises, many of them small businesses.  Finally, the lofty promises of completely free and fully vetted job postings were simply not economically viable and could never have been fulfilled, ultimately resulting in frustration for both employers and job seekers.”

John Bell, Chairman of the Coalition, stated, “The Coalition welcomes ICANN’s enforcement action and commends ICANN’s Legal Department and Contractual Compliance Department for conducting its review of the non-compliant actions by Employ Media, DirectEmployers Association and SHRM.  The Coalition has stated for months that the facts in the matter would lead to this inevitable result.  ICANN obviously reviewed all of the relevant facts and arrived at the correct conclusion.  We are confident that ICANN will follow through on this demonstration of its commitment to enforce its rules and take all necessary and appropriate actions to terminate the non-compliant Dot Jobs Universe as soon as possible.” 

One Upside to Recession: Workers More Punctual

Since the recession began, more workers are starting their work day on time. A new CareerBuilder survey reveals that 15 percent of workers said they arrive late to work once a week or more, down from 16 percent in 2009 and 20 percent in 2008. This national survey was conducted among 2,482 U.S. employers and 3,910 U.S. employees between November 15 and December 2, 2010.

Workers shared a variety of reasons for being tardy, with the top excuse being traffic-related (30 percent), followed by lack of sleep (19 percent). Nine percent blamed the bad weather for their tardiness, while eight percent indicated a delay in getting their kids to daycare or school. Other common reasons included public transportation, wardrobe issues or dealing with pets.

“Whether it is a result of fear associated with the economy or just a shift in attitude, workers over the last few years are doing a better job of managing their schedules and getting into the office at the designated time,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder. “While workers will sometimes be late due to circumstances out of their control, they need to be aware of their companies’ tardiness policies. Regardless of the reason, workers who are running late should always be honest with their managers.”

While some employers are more lenient with worker tardiness, others have stricter policies. One-third (32 percent) of employers said they have terminated an employee for being late.

Hiring managers provided the following examples of the most outrageous excuses employees offered for arriving late to work:

• Employee claimed is car was inhabited by a hive of bees and he couldn’t use the car for two hours until bees left.
• 
  
• Employee claimed their cat attacked them.
• 
  
• Employee claimed it was a delay with public transportation and produced a note signed by “The Bus Driver.”
• 
  
• Employee claimed his Botox appointment took longer than he expected.
• 
  
• Employee claimed his hair was hurting his head.
• 
  
• Employee claimed they did not get any sleep because their boyfriend’s wife threw them out of the house.
• 
  
• Employee claimed they knew they were already going to be late, so they figured they’d go ahead and stop to get donuts for everyone.
• 
  
• Employee claimed their Karma was not in sync that day.
• 
  
• Employee claimed they got hurt taking a fork out of the dishwasher.
• 
  
• Employee claimed they weren’t late … the company clock was wrong.

Survey Indicates Employers Optimistic About Hiring for 2011

PayScale, Inc., the world’s largest real-time provider, today announced its 2011 Compensation Practices Survey.

According to the survey results, companies are optimistic about their potential for success heading into 2011. About two-thirds of employers think their company’s financial performance will improve in 2011 and most plan on increasing salaries at some point in the year.

The 2011 Compensation Practices Survey was conducted in December of 2010. PayScale’s survey results were reviewed several ways, with comparisons done between small companies (<100 employees), medium-sized companies (100-1,500 employees) and large companies (1,500+ employees), as well as a closer analysis of three major industries: healthcare, manufacturing and not-for-profit.

“There is a growing confidence about the economic recovery and the evidence rests with the majority of respondents’ (67%) plan to make performance-based pay increases in 2011. In another change from last year, over 50 percent of companies say they expect their workforce to stay approximately the same in 2011, while about one-third plan to increase their workforce” said Mike Metzger, Chief Executive Office at PayScale. “Retaining and attracting good talent are the two chief compensation objectives for 2011 (as they were in 2010). Less than 10 percent of respondents feel employee retention will be of little or no concern in 2011,” said Metzger.

Survey highlights include:

Over 70 percent of respondents say their organization size stayed the same or increased in 2010, compared to 2009 when over 40 percent of respondents said that their organization size decreased.

In 2010, the top reason for employees leaving an organization was personal reasons (marriage, family, medical, etc.) (53%), compared to 2009 when poor performance (termination) was the top reason (46%).

The majority of respondents (39%) felt employee retention was a top concern in 2010 and also felt employee retention would continue to be a top concern in 2011 (49%).

Over 50 percent of large companies decreased their organization size in 2009, while only 20 percent did so in 2010.

Companies in manufacturing were most likely to increase their organization’s size in 2010. In 2009, over 60 percent of manufacturing respondents said their organization size decreased, while in 2010 only 19 percent said this.

In both 2009 and 2010, the majority of respondents chose the CEO as the one responsible for setting compensation at their company: 50.5% in 2009 and 52.2% in 2010.

Salary ranges per job group are common, but varying the target market percentile per job group is not.

The most important compensation objective guiding respondents’ 2010 decisions for all company sizes was “Retaining Top Employees.”

Regardless of company size, organizations are likely to conduct market and compensation analyses throughout the year: 32% of small and medium sized companies and 44% of large companies.

The majority of companies plan to reward and retain high-performing employees through a merit-based pay plan (50%). The next most common approach is to provide learning and developmental opportunities (45%).

“Employers are generally optimistic about their potential for business success in 2011, with small companies leading the pack. Seventy percent of respondents at small companies think their financial performance will improve in 2011, compared to 65 percent of medium-sized companies and 60 percent of large companies,” added Metzger.

3 Overlooked Job Search Strategies

Everyone knows networking is the most effective job search strategy but here are a few areas that tend to get overlooked for job search strategies:

Your local Chamber of Commerce. Companies with less than 100 employees are projected to increase college grad hiring this year by 20%. This type of company typically does not have a strong recruiting department. Thus, the key is to identify the opportunities and your local Chamber of Commerce is a great place to start.

Your parents’ CPA or attorney. These people typically provide services to small companies. They can provide an introduction for you.

Your church. Many churches offer job networking groups. They can be very advantageous in a job search.

WorldWideLearn Spotlights The Top 10 Degree Programs For 2011

Foster City, CA (CISION) February 22, 2011 – The leading online education directory, WorldWideLearn.com, has released details on this year’s top 10 degree programs that are garnering the most attention from site users. Using a combination of mean annual wages and other statistical data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it’s anticipated that the highlighted degree programs will be in heavy demand for 2011. 

Having access to trending degree programs can be advantageous for future career planning and identifying job sectors that are expanding and lucrative. Because college attendance is on the rise, with a projected 19 million students enrolling this fall, WorldWideLearn’s degree program overview may help shape student’s academic choices.

“In today’s competitive job market, having a degree can be the difference between landing a job and being passed over,” shared WorldWideLearn.com spokesperson Doug Jones. “Data shows us that people with degrees earn more on average than those without. By connecting our users to the degree programs that they’re most interested in we’re helping them get one step closer to securing a job with top earning potential.” 

According to the U.S. Census and the National Center for Education Statistics, the average national salary of workers 18 years and older with an advanced degree was $80,977 compared to $21,484 for workers with high school diplomas. WorldWideLearn.com’s list of top degree programs contain median salary information and growth projections for the decade ahead.

Some of the in-demand degree programs featured on WorldWideLearn.com, include:

• Business administration, management and operations
• Criminal justice and corrections
• Teacher education and professional development
• Psychology

With both online education and campus-based education options available, WorldWideLearn.com helps students find the right learning institution for their education needs. For additional details on the top degree programs of 2011 visit WorldWideLearn.com to view the slideshow.

About WorldWideLearn.com

WorldWideLearn.com is the world’s premier online directory of education, featuring informative resources, more than 2,500 online courses, over 1,600 online degree programs, 200 online universities, and 2,300 campus-based career college programs. WorldWideLearn.com receives thousands of visitors each day and has been featured on MSMoney.com.

VAULT.COM REVEALS TOP FINANCIAL INTERNSHIPS FOR 2011

New York, NY, (February 22, 2011) Vault.com, the source for employer rankings, ratings and reconnaissance, is helping undergrad and graduate students get a jumpstart on their career path with the release of its Top 10 Financial Internships for 2011.

While the economy is improving and job openings are slowly increasing, the unemployment rate still hovers at 9%, making internships still the best bet for students looking to advance their careers.  With competition for these internships remaining at an all-time high, Vault’s latest rating of Top Financial Internships, helps students get a leg up on the competition and find the right match for their skills, values and needs. 

“It’s no secret that if you’re a college graduate looking for a full-time, high-paying job in finance you’ll need at least one, and preferably two internships on your resume,” said Derek Loosvelt, finance editor at Vault.com.  “Of course, in the prestige-addicted field of finance, the more prestigious the name brand is of your internship, the better your chances are of impressing recruiters, landing an interview, and getting hired.”

In the coming weeks, Vault will announce the Top 10 U.S. Internships along with the top internship programs across a number of additional industries and categories, such as best perks and most unusual experiences.  The release of the Top Finance Internships serves as the kickoff of this upcoming rollout.

“Internships offer the best opportunity for future job candidates to test-drive a potential career and in this economy, that has made them both more preparatory and more crucial than ever,” said David Limm, education editor at Vault.com. “Students need to know how vital internships are to their careers, and they should know, too, which companies, among so many thousands, offer the best programs.”

For the complete list of Vault’s Top Finance Internships, click here. 

About Vault 

Vault.com is the source of employer and university rankings, ratings and reconnaissance for highly credentialed, in-demand candidates.  Vault.com is organized by profession, industry, company and schools.  Vault profiles, rankings and assessment tools deliver the insider perspective and career research candidates need to successfully match themselves to the best available job, employer and career opportunity. The Vault.com website features profiles on more than 4,500 employers, 4,000 universities and hundreds of industries and professions including the law, finance, accounting and consulting sectors.  Founded in 1996, Vault.com is the only career resource of its kind and attracts more than 1000 employer and recruiter advertisers, more than 1200 school and institutional subscribers and millions of individual visitors and members.

Most Employees Claim to Make Workplace Suggestions

Employees say they frequently offer suggestions in the workplace, according to a Right Management online survey. In fact, a majority of the 388 surveyed claim to make 20 or more suggestions each year, and another quarter between 10 and 20. 

The findings are consistent with past research by the firm and are an indication that most employees want to be helpful, said Doug Matthews, President and Chief Operating Officer at Right Management. “There is a prevailing concern amongst senior leadership about disengaged employees during these turbulent times. This quick poll shows employees seem to believe they are overflowing with good ideas, and employers would be wise to leverage such enthusiasm.”

How often do you offer suggestions at work?

• More than 20 suggestions each year     54%
• Between 10 and 20 each year     25%
• Fewer than 10 each year    15%
• I don’t offer suggestions at work     6%

“Employees really want to be heard,” said Matthews. “In practice, they may not offer nearly so many actual suggestions, but they genuinely want to contribute over and beyond the job requirements. We’ve found that it’s to an employer’s advantage to channel this enthusiasm and cultivate contributions from all levels of the organization that can make a real difference to the business.”

Right Management’s research on employee contribution has found that women are more likely to make suggestions than men, and older employees more likely than younger ones.

Sales people and human resources professionals are the most pro-active functions when it comes to proposing solutions.

A Recruiter Calls You At Work, What Should You Do?

With the economy slowly coming out of the Great Recession and more jobs opening up some folks in some industries, skill sets and locations are noticing an increasing number of calls from Recruiters (Search Firm and Corporate).

These can be very awkward to take on the spot and you may not be able to say much if anything.

A seasoned Recruiter will be able to hear or sense the uneasiness in your voice. That and well, we expect you may not be able to talk.

So what to do?

- Be sure to get the name and number of the Recruiter. Email works too. Anything so you can get back in touch with them.

- Give them a non work phone number and email address to reach you.

- Agree to have a conversation at a more convenient time.

Yes I know those are obvious but when you get one of these calls and you are not ready for it you may forget.

The reason to get their contact information is they may be calling a lot of people and forget to call you back. Or, they could find who they are looking for (or enough of who they are looking for) and not need to call you back.

Sure that sounds rude but until you have sat in my chair don’t judge

CAUTION: be very, very careful about using company resources including the phone and your time and DO NOT use company email.

You never know who is looking at it.

 

Author Byline: Paul DeBettignies is a Minnesota IT Recruiter and authors the Minnesota Headhunter blog.
Author Website: http://www.mnheadhunter.com

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

College Grad, Job Bound, Late Summer Job Search Vol 1

“In my simple way Guess you could say I’m living in the big time” – John D. Rich, Kenny Alphin

The sounds of “Pomp and Circumstance” have faded to a memory and the hard reality of looking for a job in the real world has set in. Four years of college went by really fast and settling back in to “life with the folks” is a lot harder than you thought it would be (all the more incentive to get a job). But let’s face it, this is the big time and very little of what you learned in school has prepared you for looking for a job. Yeah, you may have visited the college career office at one point in your senior year, but what did they tell you again? Not to worry, you are not alone (although your parents don’t really want to hear “none of my friends have found jobs either”). The first in a series of posts leveraging CareerAlley’s vast library of resources to help you get on your way to getting a job in the real world.

Where to Start – Do you have your Resume?

• Recent College Graduate Resume – This list of links, from one of my favorite college career sites – www.collegegrad.com, provides a number of different resources to help you in writing or updating your resume. The links provide examples, templates and advice on references. This is the best place to start if you are reviewing or writing your resume.

• Entry Level Resumes – The first and most important thing you will need is a resume. Take your time with this as your ability to “get your foot in the door” is heavily dependent on the content and “look and feel” of your resume. There are so many choices these days. This resource, also from Collegegrad.com, provides a list of links to help you get started (or to improve on what you already have).

Make a Plan:

• Keep a list to keep track of which sites you’ve visited. Include your username and password for each site. You think you will remember them but you won’t. Also include the last date you visited
• ALWAYS return calls as soon as possible, start off your day doing this
• Review your top 5 job search sites
• Check jobs on LinkedIn
• Respond to emails as appropriate (and related)
• Research, research, research – making a list of companies you would like to work for
• Register on 3-5 company websites
• Register on 3-5 job search sites
• Send your resume to 3-5 recruiters/headhunters
• Use job agents and leverage technology
• Register where you can and make sure you upload your resume
• All done with every list known to man (not likely)? Recycle the list, revisit the job search boards and try new searches

Other Options – Internships: Just because you graduated college doesn’t mean that you can’t consider an internship. At a minimum, this will give you some great experience and there is always the possibility of a job offer:

• OneDayOneInternship.com – Associated with OneDayOneJob.com, I’m sure you’ve guessed what this site is focused on. Links at the top of the main page for Today’s Internships, Past Internships, Entry Level Jobs (links back to ondayonejob.com), About US, Blog and more. The Past Internships link leads to a list of internships previously posted on the site. You can view the list by Date, Employer and Tag Cloud. Clicking on any company link leads to a full page with a broad range of information (including internships). There are additional helpful links on the right hand side of the page which provide additional information or direct links. If you’ve read any of my college career posts you will know how I stress the power and importance of internships during college. This is the site to go to when making your decisions regarding internships. A wealth of information is included in all of the links with a very clean and crisp interface.

• Internweb.com – It’s a very good idea to have as many internships during your college education as possible, but if you are graduating this year and don’t have a job, you could certainly still do an internship over the summer until you find full time employment. This site has tabs near the top for Intern Listing, Intern Jobs, College Intern and Intern Board. Below this there is an Intern Search bar to the left and below that is a section for students with plenty of resources. Center section is your main search area where you can subscribe or look at some internships now.

Good luck in your search.

 

Author: CareerAlley
Author Website: http://CareerAlley.com

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Job Hunting – What Have You Been Doing Lately?

“Nobody can think straight who does not work. Idleness warps the mind.” – Henry Ford

The longer you’ve been out of work, the harder it is to find a job. True or not? Hard to say as there are several factors that impact the validity of that statement. First, a long job search can lead to a lack of commitment to follow through. If whatever you’ve been doing to find a job has not worked over the last (enter a number here) months, maybe it’s time to reevaluate your methods and process and try something new. Second, being out of work for an extended period of time can impact the way a potential employer looks at you. The usual question is “What have you been doing lately”. If you’ve been out of work for several months, “looking for a job” is not a good answer (true as it may be). So what’s the point? If you’ve been out of work for awhile you should consider a part-time job or volunteering. Why? Because it will show that you are motivated to do something useful (not that looking for a job is not useful), you will meet new people (contacts) – you never know where that will lead and lastly, you will learn new things that could potentially be leveraged in your job search.

This company is a financial services company with over 23,000 employees across 40 states in the US. Their career site is well organized, with a brief company overview at top center, followed by Jobs by Category (left center), Jobs by Location (center) and Browse by Groups (right center). The right hand side of the page has a Search Jobs box at the top, followed by links to company related information. Tough to say how many job openings are available, I would guess 60 or so when I checked.

15 CAREERS YOU THOUGHT WERE EXTINCT

Thinking about a career change or selecting a very different career? Take a look at this article from Careeroverview.com. At first look you might think this is an article from 100 years ago, but look again. Some very interesting careers here (Worm Grunter is my favorite). While you are there, take a look at the other career related links on the site (check out the tabs at the top of the page).

AOL Jobs

This is AOL’s job search site and it is well constructed. There are tabs at the top of the page for Find a Job, Resume Center, Interviews & Salaries and more. Right below this is a search jobs box (driven by careerbuilder.com). Right hand side of the page – check out “Who’s Got Jobs” where jobs are categorized by job type. Center page are additional resources, such as Career Research and a section on Workplace Solutions which includes Skills Training. Take a look.

Redundancy Hub

This is an interesting career related site. There are three main sections on the main page – Legal and Finance (covers off on legal rights and your financials), Emotional Support (if you’ve ever lost a job, you will know the value of this section) and Training and Careers (need new skills, need a new career, etc.). The Training and Careers page has a link at the top for jobs which links to a page that lists recommended job search sites.

THE LIST: Companies Recruiting on Twitter

The technology of job search (yes, there is such a thing) has been changing very rapidly over the last few years and, if you want to find a job, you need to change too. This list, from susanstrayer.com, provides a list of companies (and their Twitter accounts) that recruit via Twitter. Click on the link of any the listed companies and their Twitter page will be displayed. Follow them on your Twitter account or just click when you are interested. Definitely worth a look. Also take a look at some of the other links at the top of the page for related links.

Special mention: Need some motivation? Take a look at “50 Compelling Quotes from the World’s Most Brilliant Business Minds” from bestuniversities.com. This list of quotes is sorted by topic and is definitely worth a read.

Good luck in your search.

Author Info: Visit CareerAlley.com for more career related articles.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.