July 2002 SRA Update:
Fantasy Interview Camp
How to make candidate selection a major league process.

June 2002 Candidate Chronicles:
Resume Preparation Do's and Dont's
Resumes can do more to hurt you than help. Follow these do's and don'ts and your resume will stand out in the crowd.

May 2002 SRA Update:
Poverty in the Midst of Plenty
Despite higher joblessness, top talent remains elusive

April 2002 Candidate Chronicles:
Change IS NOT a Dirty Word
Successfully managing change in our careers is a big step – and often a stressful one that involves many emotions.

March 2002 SRA Update :
Seven Workplace Trends to Watch
Based on a variety of recent reports and surveys, the issue examines key trends that are affecting companies' abilities in today's market to hire and retain good people.

February 2002 Candidate Chronicles:
Resigning Without Regrets
Leaving a job is one of the most exciting things you can do in your career - and also one of the most terrifying. What should you expect when you tender your resignation?

January 2002 SRA Update :
Are You Ready for the Recovery?
The economy slipped into recession before most people were aware that it had, and the economy will recover in much the same fashion. If employers wait for confirmation of the forthcoming recovery, they will be standing at the back of the line for new employees.

December 2001 Candidate Chronicles:
The Dangerous Allure of Counter-Offers
Today, changing jobs has become a necessity if individuals expect to advance their careers. Counter-offers can be very flattering. Before you fall victim to accepting one , here are a few things to think about:

November 2001 SRA Update:
New Challenges Face Today's Workplace
It's time to help employees get back to work – mentally as well as physically. New data shows that over a third of all workers worry that their jobs may be the next to go – and that is far too high. Companies that get their workplace back to normal will be best positioned, we believe, to ride out the current economy and take advantage of future recovery.

October 2001 Candidate Chronicles:
Following Up After an Interview
After interviewing for what could be your dream job, you are excited about the position and interested in pursuing the opportunity. Your next step is to follow up - a step that can be just as important as the actual interview.

September 2001 SRA Update:
The Complete Interviewer's Guide
All too often, the hiring manager rounds up the interview panel, distributes a resume and hopes for the best. But what no one knows for sure is whether this "safety in numbers" approach results in collective wisdom or vagueness of purpose. With this issue, we take a fresh look at the interviewing process.

August 2001 Candidate Chronicles:
Successful Telephone Interviews
If you are seeking a new career opportunity, chances are you will be asked to engage in a telephone interview - a screening tool favored by most employers. At this stage, your mission is to sell yourself sufficiently to be invited in for a personal interview. By following the guidelines below, you will learn how to create a proper first impression, thereby greatly increasing your chances of reaching your goal.

July 2001 SRA Update:
How to Hire Right, Instead of Wrong
Even though few companies today are exempt from the current economic slowdown, even fewer can avoid all hiring. Key positions need to be filled, and sometimes weak performers need to be replaced. When hiring is a necessity, it needs to be done well – in a way that strengthens not weakens the organization.

May 2001 SRA Update:
Why Aren't Job-Seekers in Greater Supply?
We have all seen the news of increased layoffs in many sectors of industry, but they are not creating the sense of job insecurity that leads to increased mobility in the workforce. As a result, good people remain in short supply and are tough to find.

March 2001 SRA Update:
Bad Economy: Good News for Employers?
The uncertain economy these days is much like the weather. Everyone complains about it, but nobody knows what to do about it. Part of the puzzle concerns the corporate workforce. Does it make sense to hire, fire or place all such decisions on hold? This issue of SRA Update attempts to sort out some of the issues and options.

January 2001 SRA Update:
How Good Is the Team You Have in Place?
While employees are generally evaluated on the basis of individual performance, their contribution to team performance – pro or con – may most closely measure their true value to the organization. And, since organizations are made up of teams (from senior management down), team strength determines organizational strength. As the old adage goes, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

November 2000 SRA Update:
"Jack Just Resigned." Now What?
Many newer salaried employees, whether at a junior or senior level within your management ranks, expect someday to move on – yet the day they do so often comes as an unpleasant surprise. This issue shows how employers can plan for resignations, in some cases avert them and, in virtually all cases, come out ahead.

September 2000 SRA Update:
Our Readers Write (with good suggestions)
In this issue, we respond to three suggestions received in recent months: how to put more fun into the workplace without losing productivity, the dangers of first impressions, and how to increase the odds that an employment offer will be accepted.

July 2000 SRA Update:
Is Employee Retention an Impossible Goal?
As you likely are well aware, employees are changing jobs at an accelerating pace – fueled by highly attractive job offers from employers who are increasingly desperate to fill vacant positions. Is the only solution to throw in the towel and assume high turnover? Not necessarily so; but it may require some fresh thinking about employee retention.

May 2000 SRA Update:
Is the Workforce as We Know It Coming to an End?
Many of us have grown up as part of the post-World War II "baby boom" generation. As Boomers approach or pass fifty years of age, the workplace increasingly will be filled by members of the so-called "Generation X". There are fewer of them, and they respond to different kinds of motivation. Faced with a growing number of job openings and a smaller pool of people to fill them, employers will need to learn how to attract more than their fair share of Generation X.

March 2000 SRA Update:
Why Not Change the Hiring Process Before It's Too Late?
The competition for job candidates in a full-employment economy is reaching crisis proportions. This issue of the SRA Update suggests several practical ways to expedite the interview-and-offer process in almost any organization.

January 2000 SRA Update:
How to Get the Best Results From Your Executive Search Consultant
In today's competitive economy, no organization can afford to accept mediocre results from any of its service providers. In this issue, we discuss how to get the best performance from an executive search consultant – and how to avoid settling for less.

November 1999 SRA Update:
Employment Trends to Watch in the 21st Century
With the millennial clock ticking, this issue is devoted to workplace trends of the 21st century. We see great changes occurring in the employment marketplace, and it is not too early to begin planning how you can capitalize on these changes and strengthen your competitive advantage.

September 1999 SRA Update:
The Employment Offer: Where It All Begins – And Sometimes Where It Ends
This month we examine the changing dynamics of employment offers – along with the kinds of precautions that can help make an offer stick. Vital information in today's job market.

July 1999 SRA Update:
The 10 Best Questions to Ask a Job Candidate
How can I conduct a truly insightful interview?" For many hiring authorities and interview panelists, this question is more easily thought than asked – yet a number of our clients do indeed seek our counsel on the subject

May 1999 SRA Update:
Viruses Aren't Your Only Internet Concern
Employees in a wide variety of companies are engaged in electronic communications and transactions that range from the embarrassing to the illegal. This issue on how to have a safe and sane Internet usage policy for employees covers a relatively new subject.

March 1999 SRA Update:
There's a Vacancy to Be Filled: What Next?
Numerous hiring options face today's employer, and each may have its time and place. This month's SRA Update reviews some of the considerations involved in selecting the best option for any given opening.

January 1999 SRA Update:
Are You Working Wisely With Your Search Firm?
No two companies deal with their professional services providers in exactly the same way. In this issue we distill some of the factors that increase or decrease the likelihood of a productive recruiting relationship.

November 1998 SRA Update:
Fickleness: Thy Name Is 'Employee'
This issue revisits employee retention and relates it to the current buyer's market for jobs, and to the relative ease with which today's candidates can shop for jobs. It discusses how an organization can build a more stable workforce, and why Sanford Rose Associates would want to share this information.

September 1998 SRA Update:
Use This Checklist for a Successful Interview
Good interviews don't just happen; rather, they are the result of careful planning and execution. We have relied on four decades of observing the "best of the best" and "worst of the worst" in assembling this advice.

July 1998 SRA Update:
Ten Attributes of Today's Most Prized Executive
In the current issue of the SRA Update, we examine the highly valued executive traits that transcend the familiar requirements of skills, experience and "fit". The higher or more important the position, the more these traits come into play.

May 1998 SRA Update:
Hasten the Hiring Process without Taking Shortcuts
This Update focuses on "real life" issues in today's employment environment – emphasizing that the combination of advance planning by the hiring manager and the use of a single, dedicated search firm can product the right candidate or candidates in the shortest possible period of time.

March 1998 SRA Update:
Making Hiring Your Competitive Advantage
Good companies are losing good job candidates for reasons that can easily be corrected with a little foresight and human compassion. Since your marketplace depends not only on your products, but also on the caliber of the people who develop, manufacture and sell them, it doesn't make sense to watch strong candidates take jobs with the competition.

January 1998 SRA Update:
Some Food For Thought From The Past Five Years
As the SRA Update begins its sixth year of publication, this special commemorative edition reprises some of the ideas and insights about employment that we have shared with Sanford Rose Associates clients over the past five years.

November 1997 SRA Update:
The Last-Minute Madness of Counter-Offers
The job market is the tightest it has been in over three decades, and our clients are increasingly finding themselves in bidding contests to hire new employees and to retain the ones they have. This in turn is wreaking havoc with employment budgets.

Special Edition SRA Update:
Perception vs. Reality in Executive Search
This issue examines the perceptions and realities of executive search, exploding the myth that "retainer" vs. "contingency" is all that an employer needs to know.

July 1997 SRA Update:
How Attractive Is Your Compensation Package?
In an era of base salary compression, with "merit" increases little more than cost-of-living adjustments, companies need to examine other facets of total compensation in order to attract and keep highly qualified employees.

May 1997 SRA Update:
How to Cut Your Hiring Time in Half
It may be too late to eliminate the information overload that afflicts most workplaces, but there are ways to keep hiring from becoming one of its victims.

March 1997 SRA Update:
Should the Person Fit the Job, or the Job Fit the Person?
Individuals are, by definition, individual. No two are exactly alike, and therein lies a problem: should the person fit the job, or should the position to one degree or another be tailored to fit the individual?

January 1997 SRA Update:
Will You Find the Best in '97 and Beyond?
By the start of the 21st century, many expect to see the same kind of managerial shortage that accompanied the economic boom of the Eisenhower and Kennedy years.

November 1996 SRA Update:
Ten Ways to Help Your Candidate Say "Yes"
From initial exposure to ultimate acceptance, the candidate is being drawn closer to the new job opportunity - or is being pushed further away. Here are some of the things you can do as an employer to help Ms. or Mr. Right say "Yes!"

August 1996 SRA Update:
How Many Leaders Does a Company Need?
In fact, a recent survey of executive search firms throughout the U.S. revealed leadership to be the most sought-after trait this year among senior executives, for the first time in the history of the annual survey.

July 1996 SRA Update:
Does the Lean Machine Need a Quart of Oil?
You've shrunk the organization until it's reached fighting trim, with the workforce lean and mean. The downsizing days are over, but something seems to be the matter. Unbeknownst to you, your best workers are laying plans to leave. The rest have hunkered down, hoping simply to preserve their pay and pension. ("Hey, dude, it's a job.") This wasn't what Reengineering for the New Paradigm was supposed to be about, was it?

May 1996 SRA Update:
"Is Checking References Worth the Effort?"
The normal modesty with which most people comport themselves flies out the window when they enter the job market. Resumes become shining examples of creative writing, with loyal foot soldiers in the corporate army morphing into field commanders. Candidates not only put their best foot forward, they also keep any embarrassing information tucked deep inside their pockets. Like political candidates, they seek to put the most favorable spin on their careers.

March 1996 SRA Update:
"Finding People Who Can Make a Difference"
Many of today's corporate managers seek a similar uniformity in their hiring practices, hoping to clone themselves and their employees. Over time, however, employee cloning can result in organizational stagnation and inefficiency. Since most companies operate in a highly competitive marketplace, with increasingly demanding shareholders, preservation of the status quo may be a big risk indeed.

January 1996 SRA Update:
"Has the 'Net Made Old-Fashioned Recruiting Obsolete?"
It seems to be an employer's dream come true: tens of thousands of resumes out there in cyberspace, waiting to be plucked. Need more? Then list your position on the Internet's World Wide Web, and They Will Come.

October/November 1995 SRA Update:
"Try These Ideas for Action in 1996"
For a brief moment in history, employers and employees maintained a social contract with one another. Then all the rules changed.

August 1995 SRA Update:
"Workforce Dislocations: Can You Find (and Keep) the Employees That You Need?"
Good managers won't wait until New Year's Eve to make their resolutions for 1996. With the annual planning process well under way at most companies, now is the time to set some human resource goals that can build employee morale and productivity, reduce the risk of legal action and add to your bottom line.

June 1995 SRA Update:
"To Hire (or Lease, or Outsource, or Whatever):That Is the Question"
Companies face a bewildering array of options when it comes to making staffing decisions. Hiring, contracting, leasing and outsourcing are among the many choices that exist today; but which choice to make?

April 1995 SRA Update:
"Warning: Headhunters Are After Your Best Employees"
If recruiters would only relieve you of the burden of terminating your worst employees, it would be a pretty good deal. Unfortunately, they're after your best.

February 1995 SRA Update:
"Take This Job (Offer) and Shove It!"
Candidates on the verge of accepting a job offer are a bundle of conflicting emotions...are the salary and benefits an insult or an honor?