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Thursday, April 16, 2009

The “Pittsburgh Promise” will bring young families back to the City of Pittsburgh

On Tuesday night of this week four Pittsburgh television stations simulcast a story on a relatively new program in the City of Pittsburgh called “The Pittsburgh Promise”. In short, the Pittsburgh Promise guarantees any student in the Pittsburgh Public School System tuition dollars to go to any approved college or technical school in the state of Pennsylvania if they maintain a certain minimum grade point level both in High School and in college.

We are not talking about small change here. Beginning in 2012 each student could earn as much as $10,000 per year for 4 years. That’s $40,000 for the mathematically challenged! For any family with children deciding on where to buy a house, this eliminates completely all reasons not to live in the city that involve finances like higher taxes.

This opportunity is real and it is right now. We all have the ability to donate money into this fund. A very large portion of the funding for this program comes from a challenge grant from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. $85 million dollars in contributions over the next 10 years are dependent on raising an additional $15 million dollars by June 30th, 2009. At this writing there is $3 million dollars to go.

We feel this is an amazing opportunity to help revitalize the city. As quoted often during last Tuesday’s broadcast, “The vitality of a region depends on the prosperity of the city at its core”. This program will revitalize the city by bringing families back thereby increasing population and property values while helping to improve the quality of education offered to all students in the public school system. Improving educational oppportunities will guarantee a better workforce in the future making our area even more attractive to companies with jobs.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Sites, Sites, Everywhere are sites. Blocking Out the Scenery, Breaking My Mind…

By Pete Denio, General Manager, EmploymentGuide.com, Pittsburgh, PA

Whether you are a jobseeker or a recruiter there have never been more choices to make when deciding which tools to use in either finding your dream job or finding a million dollar candidate. According to
Weddle’s (a “guide to resources for employment, personal development and career success”) who publishes an annual User’s Choice award for job boards (Top 30 sites), there are over 40,000 recruitment sites on the Internet today! Add in print, broadcast, billboards and even social networks (on and offline) and the choices become dizzying.

With so many choices how can a job seeker most efficiently use his or her time and how can a recruiter most efficiently spend precious recruiting dollars while still finding qualified candidates?

The answer lies with what any Marketing Director would advise an advertiser:

1) Do not Put All Your Eggs in One Basket, Diversify

Utilizing only one media outlet, say, the pop music radio station in your city, to launch an advertising campaign misses a large part of a products potential audience. Using a media mix that includes broadcast, print and Internet is going to greatly increase both the number of people reached as well as the number of times each person hears the message (frequency).

The same goes with a job search. Our best advice is to find one or two “mass audience” job boards you are most comfortable with but then include two or three “niche” job boards or specialty job boards that cater to the specific industry you are pursuing (
Sales, Healthcare, truck driving, etc).

2) Don’t be afraid to try new things

The world of communication, branding and reaching consumers is constantly changing faster than at any time in history. The same goes for job seeking and recruitment. Although a consistent campaign is well advised (that is, the message you are trying to convey) never be happy with what you are getting for your return on investment (R.O.I.), whether your investment is your time or your company’s money. The very latest buzzword (which may be already passé by years end!) is social networking (Twitter, Facebook, etc.). Many job boards are incorporating
social networking aspects into their websites.

3) Your Message Will Be the Single Largest Influence on Success

If you are a job seeker, being unhappy with results from a job board can easily be due to a poorly written resume. If you are a recruiter, poor results can be due to an ineffective or poorly written job posting. Seek advice from experts. Paying a
resume service can mean the difference between getting the job you want sooner rather than later. For recruiters, carefully writing out job descriptions and reading them from a job seeker’s standpoint, or consulting with media professionals, will improve the quality of candidate regardless of which media is used. A media’s potential effectiveness is not only determined by how it reaches its target audience (or yours), but also in how well put together the message is.

4) BE PATIENT

No effective marketing campaign can be implemented in one or two weeks. Nor can a campaign’s results, or potential results, be determined in one or two weeks. Both job hunting and recruiting are processes, not events.

Using the advice presented here will help improve your results, whether you are the buyer or the seller. Develop your message, pick a mixture of media, always be looking for new opportunities in media choice and be patient. Good things will come!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

TRG Customer Solutions to Add Over 80 Jobs in Pittsburgh

TRG Customer Solutions announced today that it is expanding staff on two separate business-to-business sales programs in its Pittsburgh operations center. In total, the Company expects to add over 80 new employees over the next several months.

TRG Customer Solutions provides customer care, technical support and telesales services to Fortune 500 companies in the telecommunications, financial services, technology, healthcare, and utility industries. The programs to be expanded in Pittsburgh are on behalf of a nationally known telecommunications company. One of the programs in particular involves selling a variety of products including data services, technical support, wireless devices and other telephone access services to small to medium sized businesses.

"We are expanding these programs to service our client's desired growth since launching the programs in late 2008," said Frank Kelly, CEO, TRG Customer Solutions. "TRG is seeking candidates with strong selling skills that have at least 1 - 2 years business-to-business sales experience."

Work hours for both programs are Monday through Friday with one program operating from 8AM until 5 PM and the other from 11AM until 7:30PM. All positions are expected to be filled with local personnel, who will be required to complete a 2 or 3 week training program, during which time they will be paid. Interested persons should contact TRG Customer Solutions by calling Valene Schlichtkrull, TRG's Recruiter, at 412-645-6001. In addition, the company will be holding a job fair in its offices at 200 Industry Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15275 on Tuesday, April 14 from 11:00AM until 1:00PM and from 6:00PM until 8:00PM. Candidates are requested to bring a resume and contact information for their references.

Lionsgate Studios Looking for Extras for Filming April 22nd and 23rd

We received this email from the Producers of “WARRIOR”:

Warrior Extras Casting is looking to book people for 4/22 and 4/23. Please respond if you are over 21 and available to work.

WARRIOR, a Lionsgate Studios feature film shooting in Pittsburgh, is seeking extras to participate in the filming of a staged "smoker" - an unlicensed mixed martial arts fight- as fans. Background actors age 21 and up of all types are needed.

There is a special need for bikers- as in Harleys, not Ducatis- both male and female for this location. Shooting will take place in Clairton on Wednesday, April 22nd, and Thursday, April 23rd, beginning in late afternoon. Background will be required to stay for the entire day of shooting, usually around twelve hours but often going longer.

Pay is $100/12 hours, with overtime as needed. Actors will be required to provide their own wardrobe and transportation, and may be asked to use their vehicles in the film for an additional $25. If available for this date, please send an e-mail to
warriorextras@gmail.com with "SMOKER" in the subject line to be considered.

Include your name, e-mail address, phone number, photo of yourself, and photo of your vehicle. Please only respond if available for the specified dates and location. The shoot day may start late and end late.
www.warriorextras.com

Truly a 'Burgh Thing!

Truly a 'Burgh Thing!
by Randy Bish, Pittsburgh Tribune Review

Job News and Information for Job Seekers and Recruiters

Job News and Information for Job Seekers and Recruiters