Archive for the ‘talent’ Category

PPCC Interactive Workshop on Spatial Technologies

Wednesday, November 10th, 2010

Rampart Range Campus

In an effort to support and promote the inclusion of geospatial applications in Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs in Colorado, the Colorado Community College System (CCCS), Pikes Peak Community College, and UCCS offered a free one-day interactive Workshop on Spatial Technologies for Career and Technical Education at the PPCC Rampart Range Campus on November 5th 2010.

Spatial technology is found in numerous career fields and career paths. Geographic Information Science involves the use of various cutting-edge computer-aided technologies in areas that include social media technology, mobile media technology, manufacturing, medicine, communications, planning and agriculture not to mention national, state and local government operations.  It represents a commercially viable area in which employers require a steady supply of well-qualified, technically able, and skilled practitioners.

Demand for geospatial technicians in the United States and many other world regions is growing faster than the pool of qualified candidates.  As a result, two-year colleges are partnering with high schools in designing spatial technology career pathways that lead students through well-planned secondary course sequences and into articulated two-year postsecondary programs.  The creation of this secondary-to-postsecondary “pipeline” of students is critical to the success of producing enough qualified technicians to meet industry needs.

Discussion

GeoSearch, Inc. participated on a panel discussion titled “The Importance of Geospatial Technology for Your Future”.  Will Mast, a PPCC professor and geospatial consultant, launched the discussion demonstrating how his spatial background has aided his career working with remote sensing technology and GIS software analysis.  Jessica Smith, a student at the University of Colorado at Colorado Spring, described her interest in the GIS program and her internship at Sanborn mapping company.  She explained that what she does is in demand and that employers are eager to connect with her when she graduates.  Richard Serby, President of GeoSearch, Inc. detailed the importance of the Department of Labor’s 2010 decision to recognize geospatial technologies as an industry.  Christopher Markuson, a GIS Manager for Pueblo County, described all the challenging and interesting career opportunities that a geospatial background can provide.

For more information on these programs visit www.ppcc.edu

Posted in candidates, Employers, Employment Situation, GIS, talent | No Comments »

GeoSearch and Equiom Team Up to Offer Staffing Services

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

Strategic partnership to offer full service staffing to the geospatial sciences industry

BOULDER – January 19, 2010 – Combining their complementary capabilities, GeoSearch and Equiom announced today the formation of GeoSearch Staffing, a resource placement and staff augmentation service for the geospatial sciences and GIS employer community. This new partnership offers contract personnel recruitment and staffing services using GeoSearch’s access to top geospatial and GIS talent and customer relationships, and Equiom’s world-class employment capabilities. Equiom’s talent placement solution optimizes an organization’s talent supply and streamlines the hiring cycle, while GeoSearch brings its 21 years of experience with the geospatial community to serve as the single point of contact for GeoSearch Staffing services.

“We are very excited to be aligning with Equiom, an experienced leader in providing sustainable teams to technology organizations large and small,” said GeoSearch President Richard Serby. “We have identified the perfect compliment in Equiom and, together, we have assembled an invaluable service to offer employers an efficient and cost-effective option to tap the brightest geospatial resources available.”

“The alliance between Equiom and GeoSearch was a simple decision, one that allows our staff augmentation model to be powered by the GeoSearch recruiting prowess,” said Bassam Saliba, CEO of Equiom. “We are pleased to be teaming with the leading geospatial career source, GeoSearch, Inc. and we are excited to offer this integration to geospatial businesses.”

Personnel hired by GeoSearch Staffing enjoy competitive wages, salaries, and benefits and are assigned to commercial companies and public agencies for specific projects. GeoSearch Staffing employees receive health/medical, 401K, paid time off, and other benefits associated with permanent full-time employment.

About GeoSearch

GeoSearch, Inc. (http://www.geosearch.com) is a personnel recruitment firm specializing in the geospatial sciences and technologies operating since 1989. We offer a wide range of cost-effective and efficient recruitment products and services in geospatial sciences, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), photogrammetry, and many other related sciences. We recruit technical, management, sales and marketing professionals. Our highly targeted candidate database and long history in the geospatial sciences allow immediate access to qualified professionals.


About Equiom

Equiom, Inc. (www.equiom.com), a software consultancy and intellectual property development firm established in 2001, delivers innovation through an integrated set of services that include talent placement, project outsourcing, business technology consulting, and application & infrastructure security. Our practice helps startups and major corporations identify, plan, develop, and deploy effective technology solutions and services to specific business problems. Equiom’s ability to innovate, as well as execute and deliver, is built on a careful balance between the drive to advance technology, and the need to achieve business goals. We have a proven track record of consistently developing and delivering successful products to market on time and on budget. Our clients include high-profile companies as well as innovative startups. Among them are Microsoft, yahoo!, bSquare, Expedia, Ford, and Real Networks.


For more information about GeoSearch Staffing:

866-962-7772

http://www.geosearchstaffing.com

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.

Posted in Employers, GIS, jobs, talent | No Comments »

Goliath Returns To Fight Small Business…

Monday, September 28th, 2009


The trend of giant corporations comes and goes. In the mid 90′s, huge corporations had retreated. By 1996 a full quarter of IBM’s workforce disappeared when they laid-off 122,000 employees inside of five years. For the first time in its history, Boeing operated with a majority of its work done by contracting out 52 percent of its work because it couldn’t manage its size. Continental, Pan Am and Midway, airlines with great traditions and a history of innovation, split up due to bankruptcy. Shareholders demanded blue chips do more with less. Corporate boards sought automation to replace workers and entrepreneurs were outsmarting their bloated foes.



Indeed, small start-ups were in high fashion. Dozens of disk-drive start-ups blossomed along with biotech start-ups and of course there were the dot.com’s. Large service companies were viewed as less responsive and the best talent sought quick and nimble businesses like eBay and Yahoo. Workers were attracted by the upswing potential of an IPO and they wanted to take more risk. Everyone sought a ground floor opportunity. The era of the Goliath Corporation was ending.



Gigantic corporations have returned. An uptick in mergers and acquisitions is evidence that conglomerate partnerships will weed out mid-sized companies and produce huge corporate businesses. Last week Dell Inc. said it would buy Perot Systems Corp. for $3.9 billion, Oracle Corp. is closing a $7.4 billion deal for computer server and software maker Sun Microsystems Inc., and today Xerox will acquire ACS for about $6.4 billion.



These big companies have tons of resources that will allow them to emerge from the downturn stronger. Recruiting and retention efforts will focus on placing internal candidates first; to fulfill their succession plans and increase the satisfaction of its workforce. Large talent acquisition budgets will allow their internal recruiters to advertise open positions to large targeted demographic pools of candidates and large job fairs will lure crowds of job seekers that will fill out applications and compete for job openings. Large companies benefit from the fact that risk is not as attractive as it was in the late 90′s.



What resources will small business have to compete for talent in the global economic recovery? The biggest advantage is that small (50 to 250 employee organizations) don’t have to deal with the endless standardization and resoundingly-slow procedures that large companies mandate in their hire process. Corporate bureaucracy is real and is a huge disadvantage that doesn’t hinder small firms. The consequences include great candidates that die on vine waiting for feedback on their resume or their interview results. Small companies can make decisions and actually put people to work without a comity reviewing the Meyers-Briggs personality profile of a candidate.


Smaller companies can compete for talent by using niche job boards or targeted recruiting firms. Since it takes time to review large stacks of resumes, the targeted approach reduces the time to compile a short list and professional recruiters actually manage schedules, calls, and meetings for their clients. Smaller firms should start building a pipeline of candidates that they can hire now while their Goliath counterparts are moving at the speed of molasses to hire fresh talent!

Posted in Employment Situation, fortune 100, Growth, hire, interview, rcession, Recovery, recruiting, SBA, Small business, talent | No Comments »

Double Digit Growth…

Sunday, September 13th, 2009

According to the American Staffing Association, the recruiting business has realized double digit growth after each of the past three recessions. Like prior recessions, when this bear market hit, employers focused on cutting cost, workforce reduction, and hire freezes. Surviving companies in the current market have retained only their strongest people. Much of this attrition will prove positive for firms that have used or are using this opportunity to eliminate unproductive employees and trouble makers.

A recovery is imminent. Businesses will thrive again and consumers will consume. Economists have highlighted several indicators that show a slowing rate of decline and many sectors have shown some kind of uptick. This week, the head of the Federal Reserve proclaimed the end of the US recession. If the end of the recession is in sight, what should companies do, right now, to position themselves for a successful rebound?

If historical data is a road-map, we should consider the recession set off in 2001 after September 11th. In that recession, companies moved quick to shed their workforce. Layoffs and hire freezes became common place and organizations value fell in rapid succession. Employers delayed growth initiatives, hesitated to invest in anything, and new start ups were scarce. Some sectors like travel and hospitality thought they would never bounce back.

However, experienced and savvy companies that reviewed their history books, took advantage of the talent surplus before June of 2003, when a recruiting war began and companies were aggressively filling empty seats to compete in the bull market recovery. Similarly, inexperienced and fearful companies failed to act quickly. They overspent, and lost out on the best talent. This is how companies end up with unproductive employees and trouble makers.

Smart and savvy firms will prepare now for post recessionary growth by making an active decision to capture bright, insightful talent before demand returns. It would be wise to develop a large candidate pool in each of the functional areas or labor categories that drive the business of the company. Not just sales people but developers, analysts, technical, management, and marketing professionals. The wider the net cast, the greater the chance of catching the right fish. Professional recruiting firms can develop the pool so that companies only talk to interested and qualified talent. Smart companies won’t behave poorly while shopping for talent. (see my It’s an Employers’ Market blog)

Decisions are being made right now to be smart and savvy or frozen and fearful. Companies that choose to build a pipeline of talent and start shopping for a growing workforce will be miles ahead of the companies that wait and see. Choosing to wait for things to turn around will prove to be a costly mistake. The demand and fight for talent will be expensive. Don’t wait for double digit growth to call your trusted recruiting firm.

Posted in Employers, Employment Situation, Growth, hire, rcession, recruiting, talent | No Comments »