Extreme Interviewing

How Companies Are Weeding Out Their Prospects!

Welcome to “extreme interviewing.”  No longer satisfied with sorting through resumes and screening applicants the traditional way, some companies are using offbeat interview techniques to test the mettle of job seekers. Skills, education and good references are still important. But firms increasingly want a real-time look at how prospects tackle problems, gin up new ideas, handle change and work as part of a team.

It is said that companies are borrowing the ideas from reality shows and broadway auditions.   They are interested in ’getting down to business’, and watching interviewees battle it out among each other to see who is the better candidate.  This is what many employers are now doing to see how candidates react under pressure.  Some candidates fold, while others shine.  How would you do in an extreme job interview along with two other people at the same time?  “They want to know how creative job seekers are, how they respond under pressure, whether they’re more right-brain or left-brain,” says Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder.

According to an article by the Chicago Tribune, many companies like Google, Hewlett Packard, and others are getting ‘deluged’ with resumes.  With so many still unemployed,  employers are no longer satisfied with sorting through resumes and screening applicants the traditional way, some companies are using offbeat interview techniques to test the mettle of job seekers.

Get Your Resumes ready!

Chicago Optimistic!

According to Career Builder and the Chicago Tribune, the following 22 companies are the hope of our city’s future, creating thousands of jobs this year.  The companies are hoping to hire thousands in the Chicago land area.  Get your resumes ready and start sending them!

While you send these companies your resume, also check out our indeed.com section.  Many jobs available!

1. Starbucks Number of jobs: 13,000 (retail) 400+ (professional services) Sample job titles: Retail, information technology, supply chain operations and finance

2. Amazon.com Number of jobs: 3,000+ Sample job titles: Software development engineers, product managers, operations managers, and communications and product marketing managers

3. The Boeing Company Number of jobs: 500+ Sample job titles: Engineering, airplane manufacturing, cyber security and intelligence and business functions like finance

4. Citibank Number of jobs: 2,500 Sample job titles: Customer service, personal banker, home lending specialist, business development officer – commercial banking

5. Adventist Health System Number of jobs: 2,500+ Sample job titles: Allied health professionals, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech language pathologists, registered nurses

6. Time Warner Cable Number of jobs: 500+ Sample job titles: Direct sales reps, customer service reps, technicians and IT and engineering

7. State Farm Insurance Number of jobs: 2,600 Sample job titles: Actuarial, agency department, banking, claims, creative services, customer service, information technology/systems, legal/litigation, public relations/communications, underwriting

8. Deloitte Number of jobs: 3,300 Sample job titles: Client service professionals in all business segments including accounting, assurance and advisory, risk, tax, strategy, financial, technology and human capital

9. URS Number of jobs: 4,300 Sample job titles: Engineering, logistics/supply/procurement, business operations/admin/IT, construction, project/program management, aviation, environmental/sciences, health and safety/homeland security operations and maintenance

10. ADP Number of jobs: 2,000+ Sample job titles: Sales, implementation, JAVA development, client services, HR

11. T-Mobile USA Number of jobs: 1,000+ Sample job titles: Retail sales, business sales, corporate and technology

12. Humana Inc. Number of jobs: 2,200 Sample job titles: Various, including sales, pharmacy, nurses, physicians, service operations, IT

13. Bridgestone Retail Operations Number of jobs: 1,000+ Sample job titles: Retail sales managers, service managers, automotive technicians, master technicians

14. Universal Health Services Number of jobs: 1,500+ Sample job titles: Accounting, allied health, education, executives (CEO, CFO, CNO, COO), food and nutritional services, healthcare–rehab, ICU, IT, L&D, nursing and office/clerical

15. Koch Industries Number of jobs: 1,000 Sample job titles: Engineers, IT, operations

16. Black and Veatch Number of jobs: 500 Sample job titles: Mechanical and electrical engineers, project managers

17. Advanced Technology Services Number of jobs: 1,000+ Sample job titles: Manufacturing maintenance technicians – field service representatives

18. Burns & McDonnell Number of jobs: 300 Sample job titles: Civil and environmental engineers, project managers

19. Gentiva Home Health and Hospice Number of jobs: 1,800+ Sample job titles: Home health and hospice registered nurses, home health and hospice LPNs, nurse management, nurse practitioners, occupational therapists, occupational therapist assistants, single site and multi-site operation management, physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, sales executives

20. USA Number of jobs: 320+ Sample job titles: Install technicians, customer service, IT tech

21. Certified Payment Processing Number of jobs: 366 Sample job titles: Sales/account management

22. Bayada Home Health Care Number of jobs: 300+ Sample job titles: Nursing, assistive care, therapies, medical social work, rehabilitation, hospice, non-clinical support and marketing/sales

Photography & Art Meet Culture!

 

Enhance Your Job Search

Opportunities Arise From A Better Education

Americans with more education and training have more secure jobs and higher earnings. With jobs hard to find, it may be a good time to consider going back to school.  Here are a couple of sites, which can help you continue your education, or perhaps help you take advantage of business or training opportunities.  Opportunity.gov can connect you to the right people or agencies, and careeronestop can do the same and even help you with your job search.

The President recently announced that unemployed workers receiving unemployment benefits may qualify for a special hand in paying for education and training. And aid can be significant: In particular, the Federal Pell Grant program can provide up to $5,350 for educational costs at community colleges, colleges and universities, and many trade and technical schools. This is only one example of several federal student aid programs available to assist unemployed workers.

From Pilsen to the World!

 Multidimensional Showcase by Robert Valadez

Artist/muralist 25 plus years of experience.  Robert Valadez is a native born son of Chicago’s PIlsen community.  He began his career as a community based mural painter and youth organizer. Mural commissions received include artwork for Nescafe inc, the city of Sterling Illinois, and The Archdiocese of Chicago. The Shrine of St. Jude/ Claretian Publications Inc., (a Catholic order), selected Valadez to paint his own interpretation of La Virgen de Guadalupe, which they use in their global ministry efforts.  He has also exhibited work at National Museum of Mexican Art on numerous occasions. Currently Robert is the director of Xicago Studios, a commercial arts and consulting firm as well as his cultural initiative Xicago Gallery, a fine arts/performing arts venue, located at 2005 S. Blue Island avenue, Pilsen, Chicago.

The following pieces are only some of his art work that is available for sale.  If interested follow the contact information below.

Xicago Studios
2005 s. Blue Island Ave.
Chicago, Il. 60608
Robert Valadez
tel. 773-398-8515
www.robertvaladez.com

Business Quotes

 What Really Motivates Us?

As we try to recover from a weak economy, we look forward to a better future.  Nevertheless the change begins with us.  What really motivates us to succeed?  Is it just the money? Or do we have higher order intrinsic values, which transcend?  Like Suze Orman says, “People First!”  You decide what truly motivates you. 

1.Leadership is doing what is right when no one is watching.
– George Van Valkenburg

2.There is no royal, flower-strewn path to success. And if there is, I have not found it. For if I have accomplished anything in life, it is because I have been willing to work hard.
– C.J. Walker

3.Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.
– Bill Gates

4.Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.
– Coco Chanel

5.The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.
– Peter F. Drucker

6.The first one gets the oyster the second gets the shell.
– Andrew Carnegie

7.Industry is the soul of business and the keystone of prosperity.
– Charles Dickens

8.To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart.
– Thomas Watson, Sr.

9.Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right!
– Henry Ford

10.You must either modify your dreams or magnify your skills.
– Jim Rohn

Let us know what you think!  Write your comments on our facebook link. 

Networking After Work Event

Network After Work !

Where:  Stay tuned!

When:  Stay tuned!

Join Network After Work next time. Our last event was attended by over 650 professionals so we have reserved the entire 2nd and 3rd floor of LaSalle Power Co. Network After Work events are for professionals of all industries and career levels interested in expanding their professional network and allow guests a chance to get their name and brand in front of some of Chicago’s top business professionals while visiting the city’s best nightlife destinations. Events take place monthly which allow guests a chance to foster new professional connections in a relaxed atmosphere conducive to business and social networking. Upon entering, guests will receive a name tag color coded by industry which allows for easy navigation. Complimentary sponsored cocktails and light appetizers will be provided from 6-7pm. **

Admission Included:

1. 400+ professionals
2. Color-Coded Name tags by Industry
3. Sponsored cocktails from 6-7pm
4. Complimentary Appetizers from 6-7pm

Admission: $10 with pre-pay / $15 at the door / $20 without RSVP

**Dress Code Requirement:  business casual attire.**

Chicago Business

Chicago Keeps Growing!

Despite the news that unemployment is at 9.6% in Chicago, which rose from 8.6 last month, but is down since last year in Illinois from 11.6%, Sara Lee Corporation announced that it would move its North American headquarters for its meats company to downtown Chicago.  This is another example of the strong trend of companies choosing to move their offices from the suburbs to the city. At its new headquarters, the company will locate at least 500, and up to 650, total jobs. The company noted being “in the heart of one of the world’s business capitals” and the city’s ability to foster “creative and innovative culture” as key reasons for choosing to move downtown.

Sara Lee’s new facility, located at 400 S. Jefferson Street, will have high sustainability standards with LEED certification. The company is investing significant funds into its headquarters, and will receive TIF funding approved by the City’s Community Development Commission this month.

In addition to Sara Lee, many other companies have grown in Chicago last quarter. Here is a sample of some of recent growth in the city since last September:

• Adage Technologies, a web development company, will expand to 8,000 square feet at 10 S. Riverside Plaza.
• Ahead, a data center consultancy firm headquartered in Chicago, announced a $5 million expansion of its in-house cloud lab to educate clients on virtualization, storage, cloud and network technologies for data centers.
• The Black Wall Street USA national team announced the opening of a new Midwest regional office at 4655 South King Dr.
• bswift, a human resources software firm, moved into 25,000 square feet at 10 S. Riverside, more than tripling its office space.
• Braintree Inc., a software firm that helps companies process credit-card payments, announced plans to double its headcount from about 32 employees this year.
• Chicago Taxi Medallion Management purchased 105,000 square feet on 3.75 acres at 5353 W. Armstrong to accommodate its growing fleet of more than 500 city cabs.
• China Telecom Americas, a provider of data, IP and voice wholesale services to organizations requiring China domestic services, opened a new full-service office in Chicago.
• Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate company, completed a 40,000-square-foot lease at 200 South Wacker Dr. to accommodate its continued growth.
• Dacheng, China’s largest firm by lawyer headcount, announced the opening of its Chicago office.
• Digital Assent, a provider of self-service patient check-in and education solutions, announced the opening of its Chicago office.
• The Dow Chemical Company, a global leader in specialty chemicals, announced that it will relocate approximately 400 jobs to a new Dow sales center downtown over the next three years.
• Edelman, a Chicago-based public relations firm, is expanding its global headquarters office in the Aon Center by 26%.
• Ernst & Young LLP, a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services, announced the company will hire 500 new workers in Chicago, boosting its local workforce 25%.
• Ford Motor Co.’s Chicago assembly plant will add a third shift and at least 1,100 jobs.
• Freedman Seating Co., which makes seats for buses and trucks, plans a 170,000-square-foot expansion of its headquarters and factory at 4545 W. Augusta Blvd., where it employs 530 people.
• GE Capital, the financial services arm of General Electric Co., has renewed its lease at 500 W. Monroe St. in a deal that expands its space by 20%, to about 370,000 square feet.
• Grant Thornton LLP, an accounting firm headquartered in Chicago, announced it is planning to hire nearly 140 full-time professionals, an increase of 40%.
• Gravitas, a leading co-sourcing platform and consultant for the financial services industries, has expanded into the Midwest with the formation of Gravitas Chicago, located at 219 W. Chicago Ave.
• GrubHub, a web and mobile service, has raised $50 million in Series E funding to aggressively focus on its mobile development and acquire New York-based Dotmenu.
• HKS Inc., an architecture firm that is expanding into the health care market, aims to triple its staff in its new Chicago office at 111 W. Washington St.
• J. P. Morgan Chase & Co., a leading financial services firm, announced it will hire 400 workers to help staff its downtown Chicago office, in addition to more than 400 positions Chase announced in August.
• kCura, a rapidly expanding local software developer, doubled its space, moving its offices to 231 S. LaSalle St.
• Lawson Products Inc., a distributor of maintenance and repair supplies based in Des Plaines, announced it will move its headquarters to 8770 Bryn Mawr Ave. in Chicago, where it has signed a lease for more than 86,000 square feet.
• Load Delivered Logistics, a Chicago-based logistics company, announced its expansion into an additional 5,000 square feet at 750 N. Orleans to accommodate recent growth.
• Merge Healthcare, a health information IT company, will add 200 jobs in Chicago within the next two years; the company will also will provide 100 medical kiosks to be placed throughout the city.
• The Onion, the satirical newspaper, will move its 20-person editorial staff from New York to its corporate headquarters in Chicago’s River North neighborhood.
• Oxford Global Resources, a consulting firm specializing in technology and engineering, announced the opening of its new office 120 N. LaSalle.
• Peak6  Investments, a hedge fund, mutual fund, proprietary trading firm and online brokerage, is upgrading  its office in the Chicago Board of Trade building, while adding new positions.
• Peerless Network, Inc., a provider of enterprise telecommunications and carrier interconnection services, announced its lease of a new, 12,600-square-foot data center facility at 840 S. Canal St. that will be used to accommodate its network growth.
• Publicis Worldwide, a global advertising company, doubled its space 111 E. Wacker Dr. to 66,000 square feet, which will house the company’s Performics online search marketing firm and ZenithOptimedia research unit.
• Savo Group, a local cloud-based software firm, is more than doubling its space in a move to 42,303 square feet on two floors at 155 N. Wacker Dr.
• Seaton Corp., a Chicago-based staffing company announced it would add 400 jobs at its Clybourne Corridor headquarters over the next year.
• SMS Assist, a company that handles maintenance outsourcing, almost quadrupled its office space, in moving to 41,000 square feet at the John Hancock Center.
• Uber, a San Francisco-based start-up that connects consumers with private car service, has launched in Chicago with 40 drivers.
• Valspar Corp., a paint company, expanded its space by almost 50% at an office complex near O’Hare, bringing its total space to 58,000 square feet.

Original story by World Business Chicago

New Year’s Quotes

New Year Resolution and Funnies

We would like to share the following quotes and jokes for everyone this new year.  Essentially, we focus on business quotes.  However, since we understand that people make the work place,  everyone’s resolution counts, and good humor strengthens us. Therefore, to start off this new year, we hope you like the following New Year’s quotes and jokes to cheer you up!

1.   “An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.”
– Bill Vaughn–

2.   “People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas”
–Unknown–

3.  Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.
-Abraham Lincoln–

4.  New Year’s Day:  Now is the  accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions.  Next week you  can begin paving hell with them as usual.
–Mark  Twain–

5.  It wouldn’t be New Year’s if I didn’t have regrets.
–William Thomas–

Jokes:

6.
2008: I will go to church every Sunday.
2009: I will go to church as often as possible.
2010: I will set aside time each day for prayer and meditation.
2011: I will try to catch the late night sermonette on TV.

2005: I will get my weight down below 180.
2006: I will watch my calories until I get below 190.
2007: I will follow my new diet religiously until I get below 200.
2008: I will try to develop a realistic attitude about my weight.
2009: I will work out 5 days a week.
2010: I will work out 3 days a week.
2011: I will try to drive past a gym at least once a week.
2012:  I will …

7.

8.  On New Year’s Eve, Marilyn stood up in the local pub and said that it was time to get ready. At the stroke of midnight, she wanted every husband to be standing next to the one person who made his life worth living.

Well, it was kind of embarrassing.  As the clock struck – the   bartender was almost crushed to death.

9. Funny Christmas message

I just wrote this note to inform you
Those high taxes have taken away
The things I really needed
My Reindeer, My Workshop, My Sleigh

And I’m forced to ride a Donkey
Who’s Old, Crippled and Slow.
So, if I don’t see you at Christmas,
I am out on my Ass in the snow.

10.  A depressed man
There’s a man sitting at a bar just looking at his drink. He stays like that for half an hour. Then, a big trouble-making truck driver steps next to him, takes the drink from the guy, and just drinks it all down.

The poor man starts crying. The truck driver says, “Come on man, I was just joking. Here, I’ll buy you another drink. I just can’t stand seeing a man crying.”

“No, it’s not that. This day is the worst of my life. First, I fall asleep, and I’m late to my office. My boss, in an outrage, fires me. When I leave the building to my car, I found out it was stolen. The police say they can do nothing. I get a cab to return home and when I leave it, I remember I left my wallet and credit cards there. The cab driver just drives away. I go home and when I get there, I find my wife sleeping with the gardener. I leave home and come to this bar. And when I was thinking about putting an end to my life, you show up and drink my poison.”

Happy New Year to All !!!

Federal Business Opportunities

Growth Opportunities With the Government

The federal government makes solicitations to commercial businesses, engineers, and individuals for profit opportunities.  It issues awards to ”offerors”, which manufacture commercial items prepared in accordance to the federal government’s specifications.  It also grants contracts to businesses, and accepts bids for the manufacturing of specific products it needs or solicits.  The awarded sellers or vendors of any of these items must have the capacity to sell at a high volume.  Interested vendors, engineers, or businesses should visit FedBizOpps.com. 

In addition to the ability to interact directly with FedBizOpps using its on-line web interface, FedBizOpps supports two additional methods – Web Services and Electronic Interface Templates – for Federal buyers to post information to the database using their agency’s electronic procurement system.  Interested Federal agencies can review the information provided.

Intrinsic Motivation

Why We Look to Albert Einstein for Common Sense

When we think of Albert Einstein, we think of the theory of Relativity or physics.  He was not only the father of modern science, but a great orator who spoke with determination and intelligence.  We look to him because of his wise words, which funneled and transmitted common sense.  That’s why this week we dedicate the entire “Intrinsic Motivation”section to the man himself!  Enjoy.

1.  Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex… It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.

–Albert Einstein

2.  Force always attracts men of low morality.

–Albert Einstein

3.  The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.

–Albert Einstein

4.  You can’t blame gravity for falling in love.

–Albert Einstein–

5.  Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.

–Albert Einstein–

6.  A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.

–Albert Einstein–

7.  Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.

–Albert Einstein–

8.  Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.

–Albert Einstein–

9.  If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.
–Albert Einstein–

10.  Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.
–Albert Einstein–

Biggest lessons Learned!

 What Blunders Can Teach Us!

 A case scenario too often seen with many businesses, specially new ones.  The “Oops” effect, has its consequences.  Some prolific and others fruitless.  The question:  How do you handle it when you’re an entrepreneur?

Entrepreneurs tend to make mistakes like everyone else.  According to Crain’s Chicago Business article, these mistakes can be detrimental but are the best teaching moments in every business person’s life.  Mark Shapiro, chief brand officer at E-Myth Worldwide Inc., a small-business coaching company based in Ashland, Ore, says “The question is, can you learn from every single mistake every moment of every day? If you don’t, you will make the same one again and again and again. Every failure can be turned into a lesson learned.”

Even though entrepreneurs come up with great innovating ideas most of the time, it is harder for them to admit and even realize that they are wrong.  We’ve seen how blunders have turned into catastrophes at times and yet in other instances, when approaching the problem early on, problems become solutions.  “Sometimes they have to hit rock bottom before they see it.”says Jessica Horn, associate director of the Illinois Small Business Development Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, nearly 50% of new businesses fail in the first five years. Usually the reason being that business owners and managers wait too long to admit or realize they made mistakes. 

We would like to know what you think?  Give us opinion on our facebook page. 

Original story by Crain’s Chicago Business 

Intrinsic Motivation

Wise Words in the Business World!

Enjoy this week’s quotes on our “Intrinsic Motivation” section!

No doubt that in the business world, there are many men and women, who have made tremendous contributions.  Henry Ford was one of them.  Here are a couple of great quotes of his that make all the sense in the world.  Here, a word from the business wise:

1.  In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins:  cash and experience.  Take the experience first; the cash will come later.

- Rockerfeller

2.  A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.

Customers do the Talking!

The Blue Print of a Successful Company

“By expressing their unmet needs, your customers are drawing a blueprint for what could be your next venture” Steve Rundell- Solvent Systems International Inc.

Steve Rundell interviewed by Chicago News, states how important it is to listen to your customers.  In 1983, he founded Solvent Systems International Inc.  in Elk Grove Village.  He had started the business after realizing that in the long run, costs would sky rocket.  He had gotten this hunch based on how chemical waste was handled.  At the time federal regulations required that chemical waste be shipped offsite.  He realized that it would increase the cost for many small companies, making it harder to survive.

Mr. Rundell designed two trucks that took his technology to clients’ locations and distilled their chemicals onsite. His business took off.  He has become more successful since and his company keeps growing.

“We’ve trained ourselves to listen to clients,” says Mr. Rundell, who’s now in his 60s. “It’s an everyday activity for us.” This has been Mr. Rundell’s motto since, which drives his company forward with innovating ideas. “In other words, by expressing their unmet needs, your customers are drawing a blueprint for what could be your next venture—if you’re smart enough to hear it and creative enough to come up with a solution”.

We thought this was inspiring story to share with you, since you might agree that innovation is an important element in the success of any business.  Mr. Rundell has shaped his company around the premise that listening to your customers is most important.   As Mr. Rundell puts it, “If you’re not looking at how you can evolve your business to solve more of your clients’ needs, you’re not going to remain in business in these changing times.”

Original story from Chicago Business- 2011 by Crain Communications Inc.

Business Saving Tactics

Which Works Best For You?

Sometimes we forget that to earn more, we have to save more.  As we look for ways to save and become more efficient in the way we operate our businesses, we can do it in several ways, depending on the decisions we make.  We would like to share an article from the Entrepreneur Magazine, which focuses on different areas where companies have sought to cut, and the actions they took, which saved them thousands of dollars.

On our behalf we would like to remind businesses that training within the organization is a crucial element.  This is a strategy that encompasses all business sectors, and one way all businesses can become efficient.  Utilizing expertise within your organization can save you thousands of dollars in any department, eliminating the need to seek outside help to solve problems for you.  Before you decide to seek outside help, you could form internal professional groups within your company to obtain valuable information and cut corners.  Most of the time  issues can be resolved before becomimg a problem, when approached immediately.  You could think of internal training as a way to get the best qualified individuals to coach efficiency within your organization.

We liked this edition of Entrepreneur,which shows ways companies saved money by making smart decisions:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/220636

Illinois Department of Employment Security

Network Within Your Reach

Governor Quinn appointed Jay Rowell to be the Director of the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) on June 3, 2011. Governor Quinn did so in his on-going effort to create jobs, foster economic development and increase efficiency and accountability in all areas of state government. The Illinois Senate, with strong bipartisan support, confirmed Rowell’s nomination on June 22, 2011.

Rowell is a problem-solver and change-agent who has extensive experience in shaping government policy, writing legislation to advance with that policy, and building coalitions to authorize the legislation.

IDES is a state agency which offers information to all its citizens regarding employment, employers, tools & services, and other related information.  Here we are featuring the “events & workshops” page for those of you who would like to know more about networking with the sectors you are more interested about throughout Illinois.

Chicago Office
33 S. State St.
Chicago, IL 60603
Contact IDES

Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity

Do You Need Help with Your New Business?

At times we just need a reminder of the organizations and federal or state agencies that exist to aid us in times when we really need their assistance.  The Department of Commerce and Economice Opportunity (DCEO), is one of those agencies that is there to offer general information about empowering your new business.

DCEO’s Office of Development administers a wide array of programs and services designed to help Illinois businesses thrive in todays conomy.  They offer expansion incentives, technology support services, access to capital, global marketing expertise, and job training and education for workers.  Their trained staff is committed to forging partnerships with the private sector in an effort to build upon Illinois’ reputation as a world class center for business and industry. This includes a strong emphasis on programs designed to provide small businesses — particularly minority and female entrepreneurs — with the resources they need to succeed and grow their business opportunities.
Illinois DCEO
Business Development
500 E. Monroe
Springfield, Il 62701-1643
877-221-4403
TTY: 800-785- 6055

Health Care Careers

Health Career growth in Illinois.

Professional and business services, health care and construction all experienced organic growth in September.

According to an article on Examiner.com, “nonfarm payrolls grew by over 100,000 jobs in the month of September (according to Bureau of Labor statistics.) 45,000 of the jobs were in the telecommunications field, as a result of workers who went on   strike and applied for unemployment benefits. Professional and business services, health care and construction all experienced organic growth in September. The unemployment rate stayed at 9.1% for the month of September.”

“Though the State level statistics are not available until later this month, Illinois was…         Read More!

Article written by Un Buen Doctor

Empowering Women

Dedication to Success!

Ross Dress for Less

***Read All About it!  Ross Bringing Business to Chicago! ***

We thought that we begin this week by sharing something positive to everyone looking for a job or trying to get some great deals!  Ross Dress for Less, is a common retailer in many states, by way of Pleasanton California.  However they are opening their doors to Chicagoans this week!

The nation’s largest apparel and home fashion chain, Ross Dress for Less, will make its  Chicagoland debut with the opening of 12 stores on Saturday, Oct. 8. The California-based retailer will open stores in the north, west and south suburbs, as well as Rockford. According to the company, the store openings will bring approximately 600 jobs to Illinois, with an estimated 50 store associates employed at each new location.

Ross usually offers up to 60 percent discounts on designer labels and department store brands, home furnishings and other items.  The timing couldn’t be more perfect than now.  Here are the locations coming to Chicagoland:

• Algonquin: Algonquin Commons,  1812 S. Randall Rd.
• Arlington Heights: Northpoint Shopping Center, 370 E. Rand Rd.
• Bloomingdale: Bloomingdale Court Shopping Center, 350 W. Army Trail Rd.
• Crystal Lake: Crystal Point Center, 6000 Northwest Hwy.
• Matteson: Matteson Center, 4816 W. 211th St.
• Naperville: Naperwest Plaza, 514 S. Route 59
• Niles: Pointe Plaza Shopping Center, 5750 W. Touhy Ave.
• Orland Park: Orland Park Place, 120 Orland Park Pl.
• Rockford: Rockford Crossings, 249 Deane Dr.
• Schaumburg: Scharrington Square, 2427 W. Schaumburg Rd.
• Skokie: Skokie Fashion Square, 9454 Skokie Blvd.
• South Elgin: South Elgin Commons, 484 Randall Rd.