Dear SafetyXChange Members:

If you haven't been in the job market for a few years, you might not recognize it. Things have changed - dramatically. Few understand these changes better than veteran executive recruiters, Tucker Mays and Bob Sloane. Tucker and Bob have fashioned a set of eight rules to deal with the changes. Last week, we discussed Rule 1: Don't Lead With Your Résumé. Now let's talk about Rules 2 and 3.

Rule 2: Don't Rely on Recruiters

Recruiters only account for about 10% of all executive and management hires. So relying too heavily on them is a mistake. Recruiters themselves admit as much. A general manager of one of the world's largest executive recruiting firms recently told me: "Any job seeker who is spending more than 10% of job search time on recruiters is spending too much time with them."

Relying on recruiters is especially problematic for those not currently holding a job. Recruiters say that for every seven candidates they propose to an employer, only one is unemployed. True, executive turnover has increased in recent years; and, true, among corporate circles, there is less of a "stigma" attached to being out of work than there used to be. Still, recruiters seem to prefer the job candidates who are still employed to those who are "in transition."

Rule 3: Networking Works Best with the People You Don't Know

Most job seekers believe that the best people to network with are the people they know: classmates, friends, business colleagues, recruiters, etc. But this is not usually the case. The people you know are apt to stereotype you based on a past, often outdated impression. Old contacts aren't generally familiar with your new skills, experience and accomplishments.

Consequently, the best use of networking resources is to focus on the people you've never met. According to Tucker and Bob, contacts with new people that the candidate didn't know before starting the job search are responsible for 80% of all executive jobs.

Conclusion

We'll pick things up next week with a look at job search organization and the interviewing process. Have a safe summer weekend, everybody.

Wishing you career success,
Lauryn Franzoni
ExecuNet, www.execunet.com

INJURY TRENDS
Hispanic Workers Remain the Most Vulnerable

By Glenn Demby

In 2005, the rate of fatal injuries in the U.S. was 4.0 per 100,000 workers. The rate of fatal injuries to Hispanic workers that year was 4.9 per 100,000, highest among any racial or ethnic group. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Immigrant workers of all ethnicities suffer injuries and illnesses at a disproportionate rate. According to the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, between 1992 and 2005, the number of fatalities among foreign born workers increased from 635 to 1,032, or 63%. In the same period, fatalities among foreign-born Hispanics rose 132%, from 275 to 638.

MEMBER REPLY

A Minneapolis Resident Responds to the Disaster

As a lifetime resident of Minneapolis, I have traveled across the bridge that collapsed thousands of times. Today, our Governor mandated emergency inspections of all of our bridges with similar structures. The search for bodies in cars in the river continues. My shock and sympathy for those involved is now turning to outrage that this preventable accident ever happened.

If any good can come out of this disaster, I hope that it will open the eyes of all governments and inspectors to be thorough and to err on the side of the human life that it might save. I also wish to thank all of my friends in safety around the country that have contacted me to see if my family and I are okay. Thank God, we are. Please pray for those that were not as lucky.

Patty Roberts
Ergonomic Risk Reduction Process Site Coordinator
USPS

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Show More Sympathy for the Victims

In his August 3rd editorial, Glenn Demby talks of the tragedy involving the bridge collapse on Highway 35W in Minneapolis. I understand his point of possible future catastrophes. However, there is a cold and callous comment about the drivers and passengers being in the wrong place at the wrong time. These are innocent victims of a tragedy, yet there seems to be no sign of mourning for them or mention of support for their families and friends. Please don't make this into a political soap box even before the unaccounted victims are set to rest.

In addition, in Glenn Demby's article "DEADLIEST BRIDGE COLLAPSES IN U.S. HISTORY," three of the four listed were related to vessels running into them. I don't know the reason for the Amsterdam, NY collapse, but the 35W collapse took place during the repair of the bridge. If anything, the human error involved with this collapse would seem to be the public's unwillingness to be inconvenienced enough to shut the bridge down completely during the re-surfacing.

Name withheld

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