Job boards continue to remain an important channel for executives to find a job. While only 11.6% of executives credited job boards for finding direct employment, the vast majority (67%) planned on using job boards in the next twelve months. Karen Jenkin, Six Figures, believes that executives will continue to endorse job boards because “they are an important gateway to other channels like recruiters and employers, especially as the survey found that 77% of executives are ready to leave their current employer.”

The report also highlighted the ubiquity of recruitment firms in the Australian employment market, with a majority 64% of executives having found a job at least once in their career using their service and 23.2% of executives crediting recruitment firms for delivering their last job. However, 33% have negative opinions of recruitment firms and only 18.66% considered them to be effective.

“Executives continue to have a love-hate relationship with recruitment firms. While many executives are critical of recruitment firms, they are also the most successful channel to find a new job” said Phillip Tusing, author of the report. “Executives appreciate the role of recruiters, but are weary of below-par performances.”

Other successful channels to find a new job includes personal networks and referrals, accounting for 22.3% and 20% respectively. Cold calling employers worked for 1.1% of executives, while social networking sites delivered only 0.8% of new jobs.

Besides their job searching behavior, the report explored various facets of the work life of executives including remuneration, education and views on employers.

The report is a joint project between Six Figures and Destination Talent, and has been produced with the support of the following organisations – Peerlo, Talent Acquisition Specialist; Australian Institute of Management (AIM QLD/NT); Graduate College of Management, Southern Cross University; and Dutton Direct, International Luxury Circle.

The report is available for free download on the Executive Monitor site.

As a first step, it is suggested to take stock of our own state of playfulness and whether we are getting enough “play time”. It is also important to ensure that we let our minds play as well, be it imagining you’re somebody or something else, as part of “play pretending”, or being inventive and coming up with your own games, rules and boundaries. This can apply in our own worklife too, where being open to play can bring up alternative ideas and paths as we progress through our career.

What “play” techniques have you used to help you in your career?

A recent UK survey of workers from all ages and professions found that 36% of respondents sought work/life balance, followed by 31% looking for a more competitive salary. In terms of goals for 2010, a whopping 81% were looking to find a job they love. Now how actively they pursue this desire is a different story; as research shows, when it comes to goal setting, only 4% of people actually write down their goals. Evidence of perhaps why so few people are in jobs that they truly love.

It’s not easy finding a great job that pays well, that you enjoy and that offers you work/life balance, particularly if you don’t put the wheels in motion to bring it all together. If you speak to successful people, you will find that many of them both visualize and document their goals; it creates a sense of commitment and also focus.

If you are contemplating a job or career change this year, a good place to start is the complimentary suite of careers resources on the Six Figures site, such as with Questions to Consider Before a Career or Job Change and go from there.

One of our tips is to ensure you document your career goals. Be one of the 4% of people who actually document what they want to achieve and get closer to making it a reality. In this instance, focus on your work life and create a goal or a few goals that you believe you can realistically achieve in 2010. Be sure they are S.M.A.R.T. Goals – Specific, Measurable, Action Orientated, Realistic and Time Bound.

What have you found that helps you to achieve your career goals and attain work/life balance?

• Think Big, Start Small, Scale Up.
• Take risks and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Repeating the same mistake is a crime.
• “Ask for what you want”. Be honest, sincere and qualify quickly.
• Trust nobody and no methodology! Scepticism and paranoia are the siblings of common sense!
• When someone asks you how you are doing…..you MUST reply enthusiastic and positive. Interestingly enough, I am always EXCELLENT or FANTASTIC. This must work, because business is Fantastic!

This got me to thinking about both – the best business advice I have ever received and likewise the best career advice – and the importance that this has played in my working career. They both have really boiled down to focusing on what you are passionate about.

We invite you to share the best business or career advice you have ever received …

A common question that comes up from job seekers is “What is the best approach to account for these gaps in their work history?” The other question is “If I chose to disclose the nature of these gaps, at what point in the recruitment process is it most advisable to do so?”

In response to the first question, there is no rule that says you have to account for every month of every year since you joined the workforce in your resume. As mentioned, for all sorts of reasons we are going to have gaps in our resumes, so whether on not you choose to fill these gaps in your resume or disclose the reasons for these gaps at the interview is a personal decision. That said, should you have a lot of unexplained gaps peppered throughout your resume it is feasible to expect that this may raise doubts for the reader of your resume and work against you.  Certainly include the bulk of your work experience in your resume; however, when it comes to those short-term contracts, temp assignments or roles were you were employed less than 3 months (particularly those that are not relevant to the roles you are targeting) it may be best to leave them off the resume.   Do bear in mind that if during this time you did further study, training, developed new skills and generally made yourself more valuable then certainly promote this in your resume.

Using the covering letter or email with your application is another way you can address some of those gaps in your work history, often in a brief fashion that puts all your experience in context and does not allow any gaps to distract from the merit of your application.

Should you decide to exclude explanations of gaps from your resume, be they in chronological order in a paragraph or sentence at the back of your resume, there is no reason why you cannot explain at the interview stage (should it arise) the nature of these gaps. I find it is often easier to explain such matters face to face, particularly once you have had a chance to build rapport and hopefully trust with the interviewer. Remember that chances are those who are interviewing you have their own resume gaps, and so often don’t mind about yours so long as you can feasibly explain them.

In this great blog post ‘So, about This Gap in Your Resume …’ Rick rightly advises that you go into the interview always prepared to answer questions about gaps that appear in your work history. As Rick states “A potential employer’s chief concern is that hiring you won’t turn out to be a mistake. Help them along by showing that you were productive during your downtime, learned new skills, and are now 100% ready to go.”

I would welcome others thoughts and views on the topic – to disclose or not to disclose?

You will be surprised by the findings that are released in the Executive Career Monitor Report

The Executive Career Monitor Report offers organisations the most comprehensive insights into the behaviors, perceptions and intentions of high income professionals’ in Australia.

In late 2009 Six Figures the exclusive job site for high income earners in conjunction with Destination Talent surveyed 1,500 Australian high income earners for the 2010 Executive Career Monitor Report. These findings are being released on Tuesday 2nd March in Melbourne at a must attend breakfast launch prior to the public release of the report.  The findings are eye opening and may shock many, such as;

“77% of executives are ready to leave their employers in 2010”

The results show diminishing employee loyalty from Executives, even if they are satisfied with their current employer.

With the increasing movement of professionals and executives among companies, reducing barriers to competition, where does this leave organisations?

Can your organisation afford to be losing or failing to attract the best professionals?

This event and the Executive Career Monitor Report are crucial for anyone responsible for talent attraction and retention be it HR, Recruiters, Executives or Hiring Managers. Over the course of the morning attendees will find out what they and their organisation needs to be doing to attract and retain top senior talent this year. The rules have well and truly changed, with the power shifting back to job seekers and employees. Where does this leave you?

For further information, please contact Rebecca Cherry or Kelly Magowan on (03) 9329 0144 or email rebecca.cherry@sixfigures.com.au or kelly.magowan@sixfigures.com.au

As a middle aged worker (deemed to be someone in the 40 – 60 year age bracket) the job search process can bring with it extra challenges. Age discrimination is a big one, with too many employers overlooking the experience, expertise and brain power a middle aged worker brings; instead opting for the youth and energy of younger applicants. According to new research in a post Brain Functions That Improve with Age, as we get older we become a greater asset to employers due to our brain changes.

“Over the past few years, neuroscientists have begun to zero in on the brain’s changes in middle age, and what they’ve found is encouraging. Results of long-term studies show that — contrary to stereotypes — we actually grow smarter in key areas in middle age which, with longer life spans, now stretches from our mid 40s to our mid to late 60s. In areas as diverse as vocabulary and inductive reasoning, our brains function better than they did in our 20s. As we age, we more easily get the “gist” of arguments. Even our judgment of others improves. Often, we simply “know” if someone — or some idea — is to be trusted. We also get better at knowing what to ignore and when to hold our tongues.”

This is an interesting article for anyone involved in hiring or who is considered middle aged, job seeking and is finding that doors are not opening. It may well be worth raising some of this research in the interview when questions come – “Why should we hire you?”

Interestingly in late 2008 the most popular executive perk by far was a mobile phone, according to Compdata Surveys.

What are your thoughts – two years on does it still rate as a perk?

Six Figures has previously undertaken various research projects on this subject before (the High Income Earners Report & the Executive Job Market Confidence Report), which confirmed this point. Most of our members, who are professionals and 30 years plus, are looking for the opportunity to do something a little different and are even willing to take a significant salary cut to do so; yet the reality is that there are few opportunities in the market where this occurs. It’s rather sad really when you think about it – all that wasted talent.

Now ‘The Age of Unreason’ is 20+ years old and was written whilst I was still at high school. What has shocked me most about reading this book is how little has changed when it comes to how organizations attract and retain talent.

Prompted by this book and looking through various job ads on different sites, it struck me that most job ads are a shopping list of what an organization wants – i.e. must have x,y,z. I don’t think I have ever seen a job ad that says must have the potential to do x,y,z. It seems that potential, desire and motivation have no place when it comes to seeking employment – it’s all about what you must have and must have done before. Now I too am guilty of this, however I will certainly make more of an effort when writing job ads to not be so limited to ensure that I don’t screen out the talent before I have even begun hiring.

What are your views on recruiting based on potential, be it as a job seeker or recruiter? Have you ever seen a job ad that actually highlights the fact that they are looking for someone with the potential to do x,y,z?

Note: I have since discovered this book was rated in the top 10 business books in 1990 by Business Week. So it’s well worth a read.