Hiring Upturn Signals

A few months ago you had to really hunt for signs that the recovery was hitting the job market in a positive way. But this week, a number of indicators hit my news feeds, and others were easy to find. A good sign! Here are some highlights:

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Tech hiring is on an upswing, due to significant recovery by many key firms in the sector. Intel, AMD and Google reported substantial increases in revenue and/or profits last week, and Apple, Amazon and Microsoft are due to report next week.

CBS News is reporting this week that signs of new hiring are beginning to emerge in Healthcare, Finance and Engineering (they also mention the tech sector).

Numerous reports specifically about Wall Street indicate that job postings are up, hiring freezes are down, and overall expectations are good for that sector.

The new Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act signed by the President last month provides employers with exemptions and credits for new hiring.

An article in Fortune (CNN Money) this week reports that Warren Buffet, Jamie Dimon (JP Morgan Chase) and Jack Welch are all confident and optimistic about the upturn.

Retail sales are up, the market is up (mostly, despite the Goldman Sachs reaction drop today), and many other indicators are turning positive. Our company (executive search firm) is busy, and I’m hopeful that all this will continue, everyone will reap the benefit of a strong recovery, very soon.

PEAK EXPERIENCE EXERCISE

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People often get revelations about themselves by looking at the best parts of their lives in a special way. This peak experience exercise has its roots in the teachings of Abraham Maslow, and in the techniques of NLP (neuro-linguistic programming). Do this in a quiet, relaxed state. It is ok to ask for input from others to recall these best experiences, but then return to a quiet space alone to finish out the exercise.

1. Define the experiences. From each aspect of your life (Education, Relationships, Work), and at perhaps more than one age, remember particular experiences that gave you joy, a thrill, at which you feel you were at your best. Describe the experience. i.e. Started a business and moved quickly to success.
2. Think about what feelings the experience created for you (joy, pride, confidence, excitement, comfort, accomplishment, etc)
3. Vividly recall the situation. Who were you with, where were you, what could you see, hear, sense?
4. What actions did you take to create the outcome? [Contacted clients, bankers, new vendors, hired people]
5. What skills do you have that enabled you to take those actions? [Domain knowledge, ability to analyze things quickly, decisiveness, willingness to risk]
6. How could you apply the skills again? What else can you do with those skills?
7. Look for patterns – similarities in the actions and skills, that help define who you are and your capabilities.
8. Anchor the resources you discover in yourself, so that you can access the skills again and again.