Couple of the key points I took from the 10-page booklet

--Employers are cautiously optimistic.  Hiring levels are rising, but very slowly.  Pay is being restored to previous levels at some companies, but it is a slow process, with the majority of companies still having no clue if or when compensation will return to previous levels.

--The types of companies that are expecting to have the biggest increase in staffing levels are companies with between 20 and 99 employees.  Just thought that was interesting….Reminder not to sleep on the small-to small/medium size companies…..

--44 percent of companies are either already rehiring in an area they laid off workers in, or else plan to in Q1 2010.  One of the areas this is most strongly linked with is IT.  So as we might be seeing, the end of this year and start of 2010 could really get things hopping again.

--IT remains the field most likely to use an agency to fill a contract or a full-time position.  The growth in IT however is the slowest among industries when it comes to contract employment.  IT is average among industries when it comes to growth in using agencies for full-time placement.

--Employees were a little less likely to use an agency for contract or full-time placement within IT, possibly indicating a little more optimism as to finding meaningful employment on their own.  However, IT workers still are the most comfortable across industries when it comes to using agencies.

--They asked a panel of folks in the recruiting/staffing field a couple questions at the end of the pamphlet.  1.) How do staffing firms prepare for the economic recovery?  2.) What do you suggest staffing firms do now to get ready for the rebound?  Kind of the same question asked in two ways.  The prevailing answer among most of the experts was to continue to develop relationships (even where there is no business right now) and develop a pitch/plan that differentiates you from your competitors, obviously this is one of our core beliefs as a company and we work to that end every day.  But a couple of other interesting nuggets that people said.  One—Recognize the world has changed when it comes to your business and realize that it isn’t likely to  go back to being the way it was anytime soon.  I liked that thought, it’s true, no sitting back and waiting for people to come to you in this economy.  Secondly, a lot of the research CareerBuilder has done over the past few years has shown a low awareness by workers in terms of the opportunities afforded by staffing companies.  This indicates that there really is no truly dominant player in the staffing space.  Sure some companies are bigger and more funded than others, but there will ALWAYS be major growth opportunity for a firm that can truly craft a message as to how they add value to a client which is different than their competitors.

Some food for thought…..

1)     Change the subject line when responding to a posting.  If you respond without changing it a recruiter will see 50 e-mails with the same subject line (example:  Monster 13555 .Net Developer)  A suggestion would be to change the subject to(.Net Candidate with 5 years Insurance experience) or (.Net Developer resides in ChicagoLand) or (.Net Developer – US Citizen)

2)     Find the recruiter's name or e-mail address outside of the posting.  Send them a personal e-mail (Subject Line:  Hello Ken…)

3)     Pick up the phone and call the recruiter.  Only do this seconds after you e-mail them your resume.  Don't call them and start talking without them opening your resume.  If you call and tell them you will be sending your resume tomorrow, they will forget minutes later.

4)      In the body of the e-mail or posting notes, put a 2-3 sentence intro.  Do not write a 2 page cover sheet (no one will read it). 

Example:  5 years of .Net Development experience working with Fortune 200 companies.  Have worked with Data Driven environments in the Insurance (if you have their industry knowledge mention it) Industry. 

5)     If you know anyone in the company make sure you put that in the e-mail.  Recruiters feel very bad if they don't call or respond to someone if they were a referral from someone that is an employee