Ok. So the rumor mill has it that obese workers are treated unfairly during the hiring process and those already on the job. So what is the problem? Should obese [potential] employees get treated fairly? I mean like, such employees care little about themselves but somehow employers should care more about such workers? That just isn't the real world. Obesity on the job is not only costly to the employee i.e. health risks, job performance but also costly to the bosses that be i.e. increased group health care premiums, lost job performance, moral, etc. Sure there are the few that have valid medical conditions contributing to the weight issues but most of the time obesity points to a lack of self-control. That's simply something employers don't want to deal with. Who can blame them? The bottom line is that having weight issues is a visible sign to hiring managers that you may not be able to a) perform the required duties b) cost the company a bunch of money in health care costs. So if you really want the job [or keep the job you already have] it may be a good idea to demonstrate commitment to one’s own health first. Chances are high the boss will notice which could even lead to new opportunities given the demonstration of commitment to a rather personal challenge such as losing weight. Food for thought.

Given the shaky ground the economy has traveled for some time now, many laid off jobseekers and otherwise unemployed have had to resort to odd jobs to survive. The bills have to be paid right? Can't argue with that. On the other hand, odd jobs, part-time work and run of the mill auto salesperson jobs do stack up high on the top 100 employment choices. So what does one do if they are in between work and trying to transition back to career [a real job]? Hate to say it but you're going to have to work like a slave to get back in your groove. Why? Employers don't really care about your employment woes; they care about how current your skills are and how applicable such skills are to their bottom line. What that means is that you're going to have work somewhere [anywhere] to get a check and you might need to seriously consider volunteering somewhere that will allow you to keep your skills fresh. There a many charitable and nonprofit organizations that could use a hand these days. At the same time, you get to keep your skills fresh, acquire new skills and network in the process. It's a win-win for everyone. Thus, moving from simply having a job back to a career will be tough, but it can be done with the approach above. Now go get em'

Devising a short list of innovate companies as employment targets is one thing. Discovering how innovate companies recruit talent is another. There are no guarantees any one strategy will work, that is, without insider knowledge for the particular company of interest. A few things that definitely speak volumes to how much a given company is innovate is how much of their recruiting efforts are geared towards job boards versus social networking. Companies that focus more on job boards tend to be more innovative than companies that focus more recruiting efforts on internal referrals [another form of social networking]. Why? Well, think about it for a moment...job boards open up the hiring process to general public which means companies have considerably more exposure to a diverse broad mix including gender, ethnicity, work background, cultures, personality types, perspectives and overall experience.

Companies that recruit and hire more, from such a broad mix tend to be more innovating since their workforce will align closer to their customer base and even more so to new customer markets. Conversely, companies that focus more on internal recruiting are much more prone to obtaining carbon copy referrals of the employees already on staff, since internal employees rarely refer someone different then themselves. Instead, it is safer for the on staff employee to refer someone like them so the current employee doesn't have to ever worry about "answering" for the new hire that doesn't work out as expected. So while finding a job online is evolving given social networking, job boards aren't going to go away...at least not for innovate companies.

The recent passage of the JOBS Act through Congress is, needless to say, good for business. In particular, good for small businesses. Small businesses do more hiring than the big corporations do, so it just made sense to spark hiring amongst small businesses. Ok, so tell you something you didn't know right. Why all of the sudden was it so simple to get the JOBS Act through Capitol Hill if so much gridlock exists?...you know why, it's an election year and both sides [left and right] are posturing for votes. Each wants to make the other look as an obstructionist to economic recovery. Unfortunately or better stated, fortunately, in this case small businesses have been trapped in the middle as political pawns. So given the passage of the JOBS Act, it's not hard believe that the latest hiring frenzy news is actually real. Hummh, now just wonder if it wasn't an election year, then what? Better yet, what happens next year after inauguration is all said and done? Who knows for sure but if you’re looking for work you had better find that new job now while the "getting is good."