Mixed Results in Small Business Jobs Index

The newest iteration of the Paychex | IHS Small Business Jobs Index showed a slight decrease in the national index, with small business employment growth slowing slightly in August, the third decline for the index in the past four months.
The Mountain region (Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico) moved into the lead among regions, with a 1.66 percent index, and Wisconsin took over as the top performing state. Dallas held steady as the top metro area, topping the rankings for the third consecutive month.
The South Atlantic region, consisting of Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, had a 12-month percentage change of 0.37 percent.
Nationally, the index fell 0.11 percent from July.

Third-Quarter Hiring Forecast: Plenty of Unfilled Staff Positions for Accountants

According to the Brilliant Q3 2014 Hiring Forecast, businesses in accounting, finance and information technology (IT) have a significant increase in unfilled staff positions. The document states that companies are poised to hire, but are "adopting a more conservative approach toward recovery planning due to recent economic instability and slow pace of gains."

Sixty-five percent of respondents reported that they have unfilled accounting, finance and IT positions, up 7 percent from the second quarter and 14 percent from Q3 2013. The forecast factored in responses from 181 human resources professionals and hiring managers int he accounting, finance and IT professions in a variety of industries.

"Companies in industry are actively hiring for accounting professionals, but they are being more selective because they believe supply outweighs demand," Brilliant founder and CEO Jim Wong said. "The large public accounting firms, however, are fully aware that this assumption is inaccurate for accounting and finance professionals."

What Are the Best and Worst Words to Use in a Résumé?

In an economic climate slanted toward employers, many hiring managers spend as little as 30 seconds reviewing résumés. So how can a prospective employee ensure his or her package gets a second look?

Word choice is a big part of it. Harris Poll surveyed 2,201 hiring managers and human resource professionals on behalf of CareerBuilder in late 2013 and compiled the best and worst words to use on your résumé.

“Hiring managers prefer strong action words that define specific experience, skills and accomplishments,” CareerBuilder Vice President of Human Resources Rosemary Haefnersaid. “Subjective terms and clichés are seen as negative because they don’t convey real information. For instance, don’t say you are ‘results-driven’ — show the employer your actual results.”

 

Here are the 15 best and worst résumé words: