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Research indicates that foreign companies employ hundreds of thousands of Americans. If that’s the case, why do people want to seal our borders from foreigners? Some mistakenly believe that the way to boost the economy is to seal off the country’s borders and by doing so, those who are here will be the only ones competing for the jobs in the country. The problem is, immigrants to the United States have created thousands of jobs and are in fact responsible for helping to rebuild the country.

IT Businesses Stay Out?

Some in the IT industry feel they are being pushed out of their IT jobs as companies outsource the positions to foreign nationals. Some even go as far as to say that companies should only hire Americans and that all foreign nationals should be sent home. Some also say that the special type of work visa known as the H-1B visa be immediately stopped. By doing so, it would block companies from hiring foreigners to do the jobs Americans should be doing. The problem with this logic is that sealing our borders like this would likely create fewer jobs in the IT industry than many realize.
Would Unemployment Be Fixed?

The thought that taking these steps would eliminate the 9 percent unemployment the country is suffering with, other experts warn that a move like this could have lasting consequences. One of the biggest factors is the evidence that indicates that by encouraging highly educated IT professionals to come into the US or to encourage those graduating with technical degrees in the US to stay here; you will actually boost growth and employment in the country. Those who are in these fields are more likely than average professionals to start and build successful businesses.

According to a study from Duke University, one quarter of US science and tech companies founded from 1995 to 2005 were lead by foreign-born individuals. Those companies generated $52 billion in revenue and employed 450,000 people in 2005. In addition to this, if you look a Silicon Valley specifically, 52 percent of all startups are begun by foreign-born individuals. Companies like eBay, Intel, Oracle and even Google were all founded by immigrants. There’s more data to back this up, too. 25.6 percent of patent applications filed in 2006 listed foreign nationals as the inventors.

Another report this time from the Partnership for a New American Economy indicates that immigrants or their children founded more than 40 percent of the Fortune 500 companies listed in 2011.

It is important to note the numerous abuses of some types of work visas. Yes, foreign nationals are taking the jobs of Americans who could do the work in some situations. However, by and large, the number of jobs foreign nationals and immigrants create in the United States is far more. Therefore, sealing the borders could actually do more harm than good.

Cloud computing is the key phrase for 2012 in the world of IT. This method of management allows everything to be done in the “cloud.” The cloud itself is simply in the Internet’s big open space. Imagine a cloud in the sky. It is in the huge open space of the sky, but this cloud designates a part of that space to just one company’s access. However, anyone, from any location, with the information to do so, can access the cloud for all types of business communications. This increases productivity and has become the way of the future in IT.

Why Cloud Computing Is So Important

Cloud computing is one of the largest investments companies will make in the IT world this year and next. They are doing so because of all it has to offer to them.

• Computing strength increases numerous times over the standard practices. Companies are able to store some or all of their programs, data and other useful information in a remote server. This allows the server to run continuous backups. It is also possible to access that data from any location, driving up productivity from any location.
• With cloud computing, companies will see a reduction in the cost of IT within their business. Most businesses do not want to hire a full time IT person if they do not need to. With this system, even small businesses can implement it without having to worry about high costs to manage the system. You can take back some of that office space, give your personnel more work on the goal and even reduce overall costs related to full time employees.
• It is completely flexible. Unlike older systems, cloud computing allows the company to use new software without actually investing in the more expensive hardware to get it in place. You can even invest in a pay-as-you-go product, which means you can take advantage of new technologies when they happen. Your architect can manage changes to a blueprint in moments without having to spend hours uploading or downloading, sending and faxing plans back and forth.

IT personnel will find that this is where the job growth in the IT field is likely to happen in 2012 and beyond. The fact is, businesses need to be able to use this service and since it is so easy to put into place, without a lot of overhead to do so, the IT world is likely to change significantly as a result. Those who are looking for jobs in this area should focus primarily on cloud computing companies and those companies that offer back up to them. This is where the jobs are likely to be because of the demand in the industry.

Most every leader desires to build a strong management team, and knows the benefits of having one. However, virtually every leader uses an essentially different approach to build their management team, both in terms of philosophy and strategy. These differences in approaches may be the reason why some leaders propel to the executive level, while others remain in middle management.

Some leaders use team-building initiatives to improve manager morale and build cohesion, while other managers use frequent team meetings to clarify tasks, responsibilities, and roles.

All of these strategies are good and have their place. However, for the senior-level executive, building a strong management team is king. Top tier leaders know to devote the majority of their time and effort in identifying strong mangers, who when added to a collectively strong management group, propels both themselves and their company to success. These types of managers understand the issues and priorities that add the greatest value to a business. They also know what skills and expertise they need in putting together a management team to add to this value-added philosophy.

Strong executive leaders see their management team as an extension of themselves. They empower key players of the management team to make mission-critical and executive level decisions. Key areas that strong managers can participate in are customer relationship management, external shareholder communication, and communicating and influencing peers, to name a few.

But top executive leaders don’t simply build a strong management team, and forget about them. Rather, they are continuously building and upgrading their team. They don’t wait for an opening, but are proactive in finding the right talent  — both inside the organization and outside — to support them and their company in its goals.

Although traditional training programs are often supported by executive leaders, some prefer to stretch their future star managers with assignments that are slightly beyond their current scope. This strategy is designed to empower top management performers in terms of not only company goals, but their own individual career goals as well. This tactic also allows the executive leader to help his star manager build new skills, open up to new perspectives, and be motivated to excel professionally.

These types of executives are not afraid to let their emerging leaders shine or move forward within the organization. They recognize that allowing star managers to move forward, it not only opens up positions to bring in new top talent, but enables the promoted manager to showcase his talents and abilities.

The Bottom Line

In the end, these types of executive leaders develop a reputation that young, ambitious talent aspires to. Up-and-coming managers happily hook up under their wing, in order to move forward in their careers. Overall, the company also benefits, because in the age of increasing global competition, an organization must constantly grow its management strength, to remain competitive.

More people are turning to the Internet for the job search process. While you might think that this fact would make the job of executive recruiters much easier, it also presents a few unique challenges. One of the biggest challenges to consider is getting the attention of your target audience: in this case the job seekers.

How do you do it?

Carving out your little corner of the World Wide Web isn’t always easy. Right now things are finally starting to pick up and companies are just beginning to start the hiring process after a fairly long (four-year) drought. Unfortunately, there are a lot of recruiters out there competing for the attention of the same high-quality recruits you want to work with.

This means that you need to make sure your listings or ads are the ones that job seekers are finding. The way to do this is through a process called search engine optimization or SEO. What that means is that you need to “optimize” your listings so that they get noticed by the search engines.

But, here’s the kicker: a lot of other recruiters are trying to optimize the same major keywords that people are using while searching for jobs. There are only 10 spots on Google’s front page and that’s where you ideally want your job listing displayed.

Keep these tips in mind as you make your listings get the attention they deserve. They will help you create listings that get attention from search engines. More importantly, they are the same terms that job seekers are searching.

Use Full Job Titles in Your Ads

The more specific you are about the exact title and/or description of the job that’s available, the better your chances to fall near the top of the search results for that term will be.

For instance, you might find thousands of jobs on any given day for a “senior developer”. If you get more specific in your search terms and place an ad for a “senior Python developer” you’ll have fewer competing ads to contend with. You can take it a step further and use the term “senior Python developer Django framework” to weed out even more of the competition.

Place Ads that are Location Specific

Using the location where the job is available accomplishes many things. First, it capitalizes on the fact that many people do include states, cities, and even areas of cities, to help them refine their job searches. You definitely want your ads to be found by people who are looking for jobs in the area.

Second, it gets rid of competitive job listings halfway across the counter or in other countries. This means that your ad will be more likely to be found by the people who are interested in the job you have available – especially those who are searching locally because you’ve tailored the ad to target the location of the company.

These are just two small ways you can use keyword and phrases to assist you in your executive recruiting endeavors. Use them well and find new ways to make your listings as unique as possible so that your ads will be found by the right job candidates time and time again.