CVTracker Newsletter

Curriculum Vitae

Quarterly Newsletter

www.cvtrack.com

Vol. 1. Issue 1

March 2004

contents
Editor's Note United States Job Market - Summary Report Networker CVTracker^TM Version Release CVTracker^TM, Act!, Goldmine Price and Value Comparison

editor's note
Welcome to Curriculum Vitae - your window to the job market
Welcome to the first edition of the Curriculum Vitae quarterly newsletter. This newsletter is designed to provide job seekers, recruiters, and executives a pulse on today's job market as well as insight into networking and specific corporate changes. The newsletter will be released once per quarter with an update of the last three months of how the job market has been changing, basic networking tips, major corporate hiring changes, and an update of the latest release of the CVTracker tool. The newsletter is designed to provide you with a clear picture of what steps to take and where to focus your energies while you network to find new sources of business and income. The entire team is excited to finally be able to release our first version of the newsletter while simultaneously presenting our initial professional release of the CVTracker v.1.9.5. We certainly hope you will be satisfied with the contents of the newsletter and we welcome your feedback and interest (send comments to contact@cvtrack.com. We have several plans laid out for developing the newsletter into a valuable resource to add to and simplify your job search and employer contacts. This includes a user feedback section, updated job market information, statistics, expert review of the current job situation, and introduction to powerful networking techniques from a variety of sources. We hope you will enjoy this newsletter and be able to take advantage of the resources in your personal efforts in finding a job, employer, career, network, or business. We look forward to serving you with professional quality content and are interested in any suggestions or comments you may have. Sincerely yours, Art Langdon Editor
Note: Visit the most recent updated presentation on contact management software at Download White Papers

job market
Job Market Trends show a tapering off of employment based on household surveys while payroll surveys show a contradictory gain. The unemployment rate has increased by 1/10th of a percent over the last month but seems to be stabilizing near 5.7%. By Art Langdon
The number of unemployed individuals in the US has been steadily decreasing since June 2003 where the number of unemployed individuals reached a high totalling over 9.2 million as shown in Figure 1. Employment, based on the US Department of Labor Household survey statistics. These stats are in a sharp contrast to the payroll surveys that indicate the number of people employed by a sample survey of large companies, various industries, and small businesses that represent the US population. The payroll surveys however miss out on individuals who hold multiple jobs, part-timers, and the self-employed. In the last month, the payroll surveys have shown a increase of over 300,000 jobs. Most of these being in construction work on the west coast, and almost 90% of it in lower paying labor opportunities. However, the job market does show somes signs of strength as the number of employed individuals held steady near 138.5 million employed individuals. The unemployment rate edged slightly higher this last month from 5.6% to 5.7% even though the payroll survey showed significant gain. The contrasting values of both surveys displays the volatility in the market and the uncertainty of whether or not the job market will regain its balance as we move towards the second half of the year. As shown in Figure 2. Unemployment Rates, the rates had dropped to 12 month lows in January, but seem to be rising again for the upcoming months based on household survey results. Regional rates were shown in Figure 3. Regional Unemployment Rates to have average state-based unemployment that varied from 4.6% to 5.6%, with higher rates in specific states. Regional unemployment figures shown are accumulated average rate percentages based on number of states in a geographic area, not necessarily the population densities of the regional states, hence should be considered only relative to each other rather than accurate representations of regional unemployment. In summary, we see a stabilizing employment situation with Alaska and Oregon having the highest unemployment rates of 7.4% and 7.1%, followed by states such as Michigan, New York, South Carolina, Illinois, California, and Washington at over 6%. On average, Southern states had the highest overall unemployment rates while central states such as Illinois and Michigan drove Central/Midwest state averages up. As with general trends, North and South Dakota had the lowest unemployment rates of 3.1% and 3.2% respectively, followed by Virginia, Delaware, Wyoming, Nebraska, Vermont, and Georgia under 4%. Payroll and household surveys are subject to a monthly variance of +/- 390,000¹ individuals and therefore any value less than this does not provide substantial data. Payroll survey results are subject to revision while household surveys are not. Although it would seem that the unemployed and employed values should be diametrically opposite, additional factors such as employees returning to the workforce and/or discouraged from pursuing jobs, multiple workers, self-employment, foreign service work, military employment, and others substantially influence the values. Based on the employment numbers for March, the number of workers leaving the workforce seem to be increasing.
Figure 1. Employment¹
Figure 2. Unemployment Rates¹
Figure 3. Regional Unemployment Rates²
¹ Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor, United States Government ² Computed Statistics based on historical and US DOL BLS survey results - household surveys, 60000 sample

networker
Dictionary Definition Networking (net´ wûr´ kiŋ) n. 1. … What is it really? By Ananda Chakravarty
Today, networking is definitely 'in'. It has expanded beyond the standard contact realms of conferences, trade shows, telephones, voicemail, and postal service into the electronic media of bulletin board services, email, instant messaging, SMS, blogs, newsgroups, and social networking sites. The concept of networking is relatively simple but understanding it remains complex. The dictionary definition of networking is "a supportive system of sharing information and services among individuals and groups having a common interest"³ This definition is fairly straightforward in its meaning and also general enough to encompass many of the mediums outlined earlier. Let's try to pick apart this definition of networking - as has been devised by PhDs in the English language. More importantly, let's try to determine exactly what this means for people who want to use networking to achieve something - such as find a job. The first step is doing a literal translation of the definition. It refers to: Supportive System Sharing information Sharing services Individuals Groups Common Interest Networking refers to a supportive system among individuals and groups. This means a network is suppose to be benign or helpful to its members. It is a system, hence there are rules and etiquette. It includes sharing of information and sharing of services amongst members. Members may include individuals and groups of individuals collectively. Members have some common interest that they share. These factually represent networking. Implicit in this representation is the overarching goals of members to advance, become better or improve in some fashion. To maintain a networking relationship however means that all of the aspects of the networking must remain intact. No part can be compromised in the name of networking (or job hunting, or selling, or any other gain for that matter). Beginning with "supportive", people many times forget that it is there to help you. Many people ignore and don't even tap into their network, regardless of how influential or supportive it might be. There is no indignity in asking your friend to give you the name of a contact or to ask your relative to forward your resume to the HR department. The network exists for mutual gain of its membership. In a network, people are working in support of each other or not working at all together. This is a critical aspect of a network in that it is always on the positive. "First, do no harm", a common phrase applies stringently to a network. A second fact in a network is its nature. Networking is a system. It has to follow a set of rules and regulations, just like physical or mechanical systems. You can't have an engine move a car forward if the engine doesn't have any gasoline (in the simplest abstract of a moving car with an engine fueled by gasoline) just like you can't have a network driving people to take advantage of opportunities if members aren't willing to contribute to making it a successful network. Rules of the network include reciprocity, general social rules, common courtesy, and of course, the gasoline - sharing of information and services. Third, the sharing of information and services is a significant aspect of a network in that it allows the networker to use such information to further build their network, gain things from members within their network, or give things to members in their network. These 'things' can be a multitude of items, ranging from phone numbers and addresses to actual jobs or temporary contracts. The ability to share this information or services allows members to support other members, either directly or indirectly. Fourth, we have individuals and groups. In many cases, networking involves individuals meeting other individuals, providing services or information, exchanging services or information, etc. However, we usually forget the larger picture that these individuals may also belong to groups. The groups can be sub-groups within the network, or external groups, almost wholly outside the organization. For instance, a network may have John, an engineer who works for ABC Engineering connecting with Jane who is unemployed. John is both a member of the network with Jane as well as a member of the ABC Engineering group - external to the networking group that John and Jane are both part of. The network however includes both John as well as the group, ABC Engineering as they both have ties or are connected in some way to the network. Taking advantage of external network groups is an important part of the networking process that is often overlooked. John may know many people that form part of his network, but because there is a common interest between John and members he may not know that are part of ABC Engineering, he still has a weak link to these individuals, and hence, Jane has a link to these individuals at ABC Engineering. Jane however, usually will ask John whether he knows anyone who can get her a job, rather than asking him whether she can use his name to contact someone at ABC Engineering that neither of them know. This doesn't mean dropping John's name in a contact message assuming the person at ABC Engineering would recognize him, but rather that s/he would recognize that she knows someone at ABC Engineering and would recognize the group name. Jane may begin with a sample line, "Hello Mr. Soandso, my name is Jane Doe, and a friend of mine from ABC Engineering, John Suchandsuch mentioned that ABC Engineering is a top notch firm. I would like to ..." What this line emphasizes (in email, voicemail, direct contact, or even snail mail) is the organization or group name. John is just Jane's connection to the group. He doesn't even have to know Mr. Soandso. Fifth and finally, the group names allow for some level of common interest to arise within the network. Usually a network has many groups and sub-groups extending down to the atomic level of an individual. Even at this level there are substantial overlaps. Picking up on the overlaps between groups forms a common bond that allows for individuals to make a simpler, easier transition to reach another group or individual. Taking advantage of these common interests can be the stepping stone to acquiring, building, and understanding what networking is all about. Generally individuals respect others who enjoy or belong to the same groups as them. "Birds of a feather..." is such a true phrase, but the only problem is that every individual has so many feathers that it's likely that you can connect with anyone else in some fashion. So an important step in establishing the relationship is to determine the importance of the feather for an individual. John may be an avid skater and handyman. Jane may be an avid skater and cook. However, John doesn't take his skating professionally. For him it's just a pasttime, that he respects, but doesn't consider as important as his handyman skills. Edgar may be a handyman and cook. Jane wants to meet John to find out more about possible opportunities at ABC Engineering. Instead of attempting to connect with John directly through his skating hobby, she may be better off connecting to him through Edgar and his handyman skills. This might be more important for multiple reasons - First, John prides himself on his handyman abilities and believes these are corollary to his work at ABC. Second, Jane would be referred to John by Edgar, building an automatic trust qualifier to further strengthen the value of Jane in John's mind. Of course, Jane would have to connect to Edgar through the common interest of cooking. That reminds me. It's time to get some food. We've defined some of the essentials of the literal translation of networking, including some ideas to keep in mind when utilizing a network. One last item - you get what you put into a network, exponentially. A little bit of help goes a long way and builds the strength of your network. Happy networking! Ananda Chakravarty

³ Random House College Dictionary - Networking n. 1.

CVTracker^TM version release
CVTracker^TM release v.1.9.5 has recently been updated with a new focus and undergone rigorous testing of its main components. The software now contains most of the major features found in packages such as Act!(r) or Goldmine(r). For a less than half the cost, the value obtained is significantly higher enhancing the value of finding a software product geared towards networking and job seeking. CVTracker^TM is also focused on building a job network, not just standard contact management nor a sales force pipeline. There are functionalities that may be shared, such as networking import/export files that can be downloaded and shared amongst members of the same networking group as well as a pipeline style format for delivering a resume and closing an interview opportunity. However, the primary focus is not in helping you to learn new sales techniques (although some of that becomes inherent). The real focus is in helping you find new employment. The tool is far easier to use than complicated tools with thousands of features such as Act! or Goldmine. CVTracker^TM provides you with powerful search features, contact history management, and easy access to track your contacts, companies, positions, documents, and more! Try it out for a free 30-day trial period and see if it has what you seek. With the fast calendaring function, the easy-to-use data entry, and accessibilty to setting up your target companies - plus goals and objectives settings, it can be a powerful tool for any job seeker. Download the software at www.cvtrack.com Below is a short list of features included in the latest version of CVTracker and are compared with Act! and Goldmine. Average retail prices at the time are also included.

The uniqueness of CVTracker is in its focus on the job seeker's pipeline, developing the sales process and outlining the stages of how far and with whom a specific job seeker progresses.


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