http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2012/04/04/10-communication-secrets-of-great-leaders/) 

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It’s an improving marketplace according a recent survey of American executives. The PwC US’s Private Company Trendsetter Barometer found that 50 percent of upper management believe the economy is headed in the right direction. This is good news as hiring continues to pick up across multiple industries.

The latest jobs report from the U.S. Department of Labor states that employment grew in the professional and business services sector as well as in the healthcare industry. Overall employment grew by 88,000 in March 2013, which is less than what many economists predicted, but still movement in a positive direction.

The survey from PwC also found that only 11 percent of the nation’s executives surveyed believe the economy is poised to take a downward turn – down from 18 percent in the fourth quarter in 2011.

“Private companies are fueling the job creation that is needed to create a positive force in the economy,” said Ken Esch, a partner with PwC’s Private Company Services practice. “It’s encouraging to see their commitment to increasing headcount as they scale their businesses for further growth. Significant time out of the workforce has eroded skillsets for some workers, so it’s understandable that private companies see a lack of qualified talent as a significant headwind. An increasing number of them are addressing this issue by retraining new employees to bring them up to speed.”

In addition, as a result of executives feeling more positive about the direction of the economy, they expect that hiring will increase in the near future. The PwC survey found that private companies forecast increasing hiring by 3.4 percent in the next quarter – a rise from the 2.8 percent reported in the previous quarter.

Approximately 52 percent of private businesses plan to hire new workers in the next year. Out of those organizations, 33 percent are planning on hiring in the technology and engineering sector, the business and finance industries and in sales and marketing.

“Over the past few years, we’ve seen private companies make wise decisions to invest their capital and resources in areas that made an immediate impact on the bottom line. Many of those businesses have chosen to maintain that posture due to concern about future lack of demand for their products and services.”

New executive and upper management hires are also predicted to occur thanks to the increase in hiring.

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Did you have a good experience or a bad experience with The Ladders that you’d like to share? I’m interested, let me know! ellis@phoenixcareergroup.com. 

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A good, quick read, and although all skills described are very important, the most important (in my opinion) are numbers 3 and 4; flexibility and the ability to improve the company’s productivity. The executive job market is only going to get more competitive … candidates who work hardest to address and meet new requirements will always come out on top.

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Even as employers remain cautious next year about every dollar spent on employees, they’ll also want workers to show greater skills and results. For employees who want to get ahead, basic competency won’t be enough. To win a promotion or land a job next year, experts say there are four must-have job skills:

1. Clear communications

Whatever their level, communication is key for workers to advance. ”This is really the ability to clearly articulate your point of view and the ability to create a connection through communication,” says Holly Paul, U.S. recruiting leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accounting and consulting firm based in New York. Looking for a job? Looking for a promotion? Marketwatch’s Kelli Grant and WSJ’s Simon Constable discuss the top skills you must have to have a successful career in 2013. For job seekers in particular, clear communication can provide a snapshot of their work style to employers. “I can walk away from a five-minute conversation and feel their enthusiasm and have a good understanding of what’s important to them,” Ms. Paul says. As office conversations increasingly move online, some workers are losing or never developing the ability to give a presentation, for example. Others may be unable to write coherently for longer than, say, 140 characters. ”Technology in some ways has taken away our ability to write well. People are in such a hurry that they are multitasking,” and they skip basics such as spelling and proofing, says Paul McDonald, senior executive director of Robert Half International,RHI 0.00% a Menlo Park, Calif., staffing firm.

2. Personal branding

Human-resources executives scour blogs, Twitter and professional networking sites such as LinkedIn when researching candidates, and it’s important that they like what they find. ”That’s your brand, that’s how you represent yourself,” says Peter Handal, CEO of Dale Carnegie Training, a Hauppauge, N.Y., provider of workplace-training services. “If you post something that comes back to haunt you, people will see that.” Workers also should make sure their personal brand is attractive and reflects well on employers. “More and more employers are looking for employees to tweet on their behalf, to blog on their behalf, to build an audience and write compelling, snappy posts,” says Meredith Haberfeld, an executive and career coach in New York. Ms. Haberfeld has a client whose employee recently posted on her personalFacebook FB +1.02% page about eating Chinese food and smoking “reefer.” ”I saw it on Facebook. Her supervisors saw it,” Ms. Haberfeld says.

3. Flexibility

The ability to quickly respond to an employer’s changing needs will be important next year as organizations try to respond nimbly to customers. ”A lot of companies want us to work with their employees about how to get out of their comfort zone, how to adapt,” says Mr. Handal. “Somebody’s job today may not be the same as next year.” The ability to learn new skills is of top importance, says George Boué, human-resources vice president for Stiles, a real-estate services company in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “We want to know that if we roll out a new program or new tools that the folks we have on board are going to be open to learning,” he says.

4. Productivity improvement

In 2013, workers should find new ways to increase productivity, experts say. Executives are looking for a 20% improvement in employee performance next year from current levels, according to a recent survey by the Corporate Executive Board, an Arlington, Va., business research and advisory firm. ”When you are at your job, do you volunteer for projects? Are you looking for creative ways to help your organization,” Mr. McDonald says. “The way to really differentiate yourself is to be proactive.” Companies that are considering adding workers in coming years want current employees to operate in growth mode now. “My clients are looking for employees that have a great ability to understand what is wanted and needed, rather than needing to be told,” Ms. Haberfeld says. Even hiring managers need to work on certain skills as organizations consider expanding next year. “The ability to spot talent and hire people has fallen out of use over the last several years,” says Ben Dattner, an organizational psychologist in New York. “As the economy turns around, companies will have to work harder to retain talented employees. Companies have trimmed the fat, and now they have to build the muscle.”

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3 Ways That Futurists Can Create Tomorrow’s Jobs

The single biggest issue that most people are concerned about when they think of the future is their jobs. Many careers have disappeared as technological and economic trends have altered the workplace forever. But futurists offer techniques for thinking ahead on what the next changes will mean to us, such as using trend analysis to think about functions that may need to be performed.

Here are three basic approaches to creating a future job:

1. Retrofitting: adding new skills to existing jobs. For example, as space commercialization increases, tour planners may need to learn more about preparing clients for low- or zero-gravity excursions.

2. Blending: combining different skills and functions from different jobs or industries to create new specialties. For instance, as environmental factors are increasingly identified as the cause of health conditions, we may need more environmental-health nurses who can easily pinpoint an unusual new allergic reaction.

3. Problem solving:the supply of future problems for people to solve seems limitless, because new technologies bring unanticipated consequences. Young people may not care much about their privacy settings on Facebook today, but they may soon need the services of a digital footprint manager to erase their adolescent indiscretions.

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The top career-related concerns reported by senior executives at mid-year include finding a new executive opportunity (45%), economic instability (18%) and fear of career stagnation (10%). Senior executives reported top business-related concerns which included maintaining revenue/profits (27%), the poor overall economic climate (25%) and one out of five senior executives surveyed (20%), specifically mentioned the turbulence in the Eurozone as a top business-related concern at mid-year.

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15. Pharmacist $112,160

14. Air Traffic Controller $114,460

13. Sales Manager $116,860

12. Pilot $118, 070

11. Industrial Psychologist $124,160

10. Computer and Information Systems Engineer $$125,660

9. Marketing Manager $126,190

8. Natural Science Manager $128,230

7. Architectural and Engineering Managers $129,350

6. Lawyer $130,490

5. Petroleum Engineer $138,980

4. CEO $176,550

3. Dentist $204,670

2. Doctor $230,150

1. Surgeon $234,950

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Every spring and early summer the cycle repeats itself. The sounds of baseball emanate from playing fields nationwide, people marvel at the unpredictability of the weather, and employers neglect to file H-1B petitions on behalf of foreign-born professionals on time.

As recruiters who work with foreign-born talent know, the H-1B visa category provides temporary work status for professionals who are filling jobs that have a minimum requirement of a bachelor’s degree. The H-1B is good for three years and can easily be extended for an additional three years. This is the visa category for business executives, scientists, engineers, computer specialists, physicians and others whose jobs require at least a four-year degree. In an era when the talent pool has gone worldwide, it’s important for recruiters to have a working knowledge of this visa category.

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