ONLINE RECRUITING

YAHOO! ROLLS OUT LOCAL RECRUITMENT TOOL

Yahoo! HotJobs announced a new local recruitment solution for any company seeking local job candidates. For job seekers, Yahoo! HotJobs launched a new guided search tool to make it easier for them to find the right local job. Yahoo! HotJobs’ research shows that more than half of all businesses would prefer to only source local candidates who already live nearby and know their business. Not only do companies experience a higher success rate with local targeting, but the cost of acquiring new talent from local sources will now be cheaper with Yahoo! HotJobs’ new pricing structure for local distribution. The company will allow advertisers to distribute their recruiting offerings for as little as $39 to $275 a job, varying by geography and the number of listings purchased. “The new Yahoo! HotJobs local solution is what the growing recruitment market needs – the right local reach at the right price,” said Dan Finnigan, executive vice president and general manager at Yahoo! HotJobs. “It complements Yahoo!’s growing portfolio of other local advertising solutions.” Job listings can be posted in real-time, allowing recruiters to start finding the right candidate as soon as a need presents itself. Recruiters can also make job opportunities stand out by utilizing the marketing and landing pages for specific geographic locations while taking advantage of special formatting features like bolding, images, and color for postings. Local job listings are available in all American regions immediately atwww.hotjobs.com. While the local recruitment solution makes it easier for recruiters to attract and find local candidates, Yahoo! HotJobs’ new guided search makes it easier for job seekers to find the jobs most suited to their interests. “Guided search” is part of a new class of search tools providing job seekers with a way to browse job search results by location, freshness of the job, industry, experience levels, and company. The guided search function also offers improved relevancy, with a smart navigation system that guides users to only the relevant results, a company statement said.

– Dow Jones Newswires

AVIATION

OXFORD WANTS AVIATION-RELATED SCHOOL AT AIRPORT

OXFORD, Conn. – Town officials are considering building a magnet school at Waterbury-Oxford Airport, where students could specialize in math and science and prepare for careers in aviation. “This is the logical choice,” First Selectman August Palmer III said. “We have the airport here, so let’s use it.” A town grant writer met with architects last week to plan a six-year strategy, from site selection to financing to construction. Mr. Palmer said he hoped to someday put a $3 million-to-$5 million school referendum before town voters. He said nearly all the money would be covered by state and federal money. Mr. Palmer wants to open the school by 2012 and said he hoped the town could apply for grants by 2006. “I’ve mentioned it to the Oxford Airport people,” Mr. Palmer said. “I don’t know if they take me seriously.” School Superintendent Judy Palmer said it’s not time to focus on building a new magnet school, as the town is already building a new public high school. Mr. Palmer said the school could attract students from Waterbury and the towns surrounding Oxford.

-Associated Press

SELF-HELP

ONLINE BOOK HELPS JOBLESS SURVIVE GRILLING

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Damian Birkel, founder of Professionals in Transition Support Group Inc., a Winston-Salem, N.C.-based company which helps the unemployed, has put together an online book to help unemployed professionals navigate potentially embarrassing social situations. The book, available on the group’s Web site, jobsearching.org, provides guidelines for how to answer insensitive questions. His biggest piece of advice: Be prepared for interrogations – they are inevitable. “If you’re not prepared to steer the conversation in a positive and proactive way, it can be very, very painful to sit through,” he says. He recommends having a ready answer to the most common questions, such as “How’s the job search going?” The response he suggests is upbeat: “I’m glad you asked. The job search is going really well. It’s important for me to find the right opportunity in a place where I really fit. Many companies are hiring, and I easily could get a job, but I’m laying the groundwork to find something that will be rewarding on a deeper level.” If the person persists, and asks why it is taking so long, emphasize that you have a number of potential leads and are confident the right job will come along. Tell your inquisitor that you appreciate his interest, and that you would like to call him next week to discuss your search. If the other person really is interested, he or she might be able to help.

– Dow Jones Newswires

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION: ANSWER CAREER QUESTIONS

As the new year begins, plenty of workers resolve to explore their career options, hoping to land a new job or improve the ones they have. But there are several factors to consider before mailing a resume throughout an industry, advises Right Management Consultants, a Philadelphia-based career transition firm. For example, workers might want to think about their current company, and how it ranks alongside competitors that they might apply to. So, it helps greatly to ask yourself these questions:

* Is your company respected in the industry?

* Are sales rising, or dropping? Have there been rumors of a merger or bankruptcy?

* How has the company’s market share changed?

* Is the company an innovator, or one that’s fallen behind the industry?

* Does your company have a strategic plan, and have you read it?

* Have salaries at your company kept pace, or lagged those paid by competitors? After mulling some of these questions, workers need to consider their personal relationships with their jobs, said Doug Matthews, executive vice president and head of career transition services for Right Management Consultants. Mr. Matthews says you should ask yourself:

* Is your workload in conflict with your personal life?

* Does the job satisfy you, or do you dread it?

* Is your employer using your skills wisely?

* Do you find yourself regularly pondering something else – a new industry, new job tasks, a smaller company, or a role that’s less demanding?

– Associated Press