Posted: 12 Nov 2010 07:05 AM PST

MCLEAN, Va., Nov. 12, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Booz Allen Hamilton announced today that it has been ranked first on the list of 2011 Top Military-Friendly Employers by G.I. Jobs. This marks the sixth year in a row the company has been included in the Top 100 Military-Friendly Employers list, which was drawn from a sample of 5,000 companies whose annual revenues exceeded $500 million. Criteria included the strength of company military recruiting efforts, the percentage of new hires with prior military service, and company policies toward National Guard and Reserve service.

Booz Allen supports its military veterans and National Guard and Reserves members with its Armed Services Forum. The forum has 2,600 members and provides outreach and professional development opportunities for employees with military backgrounds and assists them with the transition from military to corporate culture. It also helps develop programs that ease reintegration when staff returns from active duty. In addition, Booz Allen offers internal training courses such as Veterans' Professional Development, which is designed for transitioning military veterans and provides in-depth analysis of the cultures of the US military and Booz Allen and how and why they are different.

Some of Booz Allen's most dynamic up-and-coming staff transitioned from the military. Booz Allen looks for talented individuals who are smart, innovative, responsible, team players and team builders. Those who choose to join Booz Allen often say they want to continue their service to the nation but in a different and challenging way.

"Service members have a commitment to upholding the greater good of the country and we have the same philosophy about the country and our clients," said Booz Allen Executive Vice President Joe Logue. "We are looking for military veterans who think the same way we do and who want to be leaders."

Booz Allen Hamilton is a leading provider of management and technology consulting services to the US government in the defense, intelligence and civil markets. Booz Allen is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, employs more than 25,100 people, and had revenue of approximately $5 billion in its latest fiscal year.

SOURCE Booz Allen Hamilton

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California Libraries Offer Career Transitions Resource to Help Citizens Find New Careers - Forbes

Posted: 16 Nov 2010 07:29 AM PST

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., Nov. 16, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to help California's citizens find new career opportunities, and unemployed and displaced workers find new jobs, nearly 800 library locations in the state are now using Career Transitions, an advanced career service tool purchased by libraries and offered free to patrons. Career Transitions, developed by Gale, part of Cengage Learning, is a complete, guided, self-paced program that walks individuals through the five major steps of the employment process, and aims to improve the user's chance of getting a new job. Importantly, Career Transitions is designed to help everyone, even those with no experience using technology.

"Career research is the number one use of public libraries today, and Career Transitions was created to help library patrons find the career information they need in one complete, guided package," said David Forman, business products publisher of Gale, Cengage Learning. "By leveraging our Gale resources, we have been able to create a program that goes beyond just helping people redo a resume; it also includes helpful statistics and trends to help people make smart, educated career moves into thriving job markets."

Career Transitions users begin by creating a personal account, which will keep track of their activities and progress as they access Career Transitions from the library or their homes.. They are then guided through the following five categories of activities: Discover My Interests matches occupational interests with career paths; Explore Careers provides detailed information on the fastest growing careers and industries in a location and around the country; Prepare Resume helps build resumes and cover letters, and apply for jobs; Improve My Chances offers targeted tips and advice on topics such as networking, interviewing and applying, and offers access to educational programs to brush up on skills; and Find Jobs helps users focus their job search to find opportunities from across the country that meet their criteria. The activities within these five categories are tailored to fit each individual's career interests and training needs. Further, Career Transitions is equipped with easy-to-use integrated tools and features including, but not limited to:

-- Step-by-step guidance for users of all levels of experience and technical savvy -- Comprehensive job search that covers all of the major job boards and the hidden job market -- Resume builder, cover letter creator and job application wizard -- Assessment engine that identifies career interests and employment requirements -- Tool for exploring, comparing and targeting careers, industries and locations -- Interviewing, networking and job application tips -- Information on related associations, companies and news for each career and industry -- Opportunities to identify and take adult education distance learning classes to enhance employment prospects -- Access to information on unemployment services, health benefits and other social services -- A tool for libraries to add information on events and education opportunities in their communities

In addition to being free of charge in these California libraries, Career Transitions offers localized content specific to the state. This includes information on, and access to, the state websites for unemployment insurance, social services, and Medicaid; details on current state employment levels and projected state growth for approximately 1,000 careers and 1,200 industries; and job searching targeted to California.

"California's economy was hit hard across the state, and as a result, our libraries have seen a constant stream of community members looking for help and guidance as they search for a new job or career," said Rosario Garza, Executive Director, Southern California Library Cooperative. "We chose to use our recent government grant to offer patrons the Career Transitions resource, which guides them through the entire career transition process - from resume preparation to career guidance. This type of one-on-one help is often the missing piece that many job seekers need when they are looking to change industries or make a major career switch."

Because Career Transitions leverages Cengage Learning's Gale resources, the program is also able to include important information on companies, associations and latest news for each career and industry. This can include statistics on employment trends, which careers and industries are flourishing or declining, best employment prospects for a particular market, statistics on earnings for a particular field, and more. Everything in Career Transitions is organized around simple-to-navigate portals that combine overviews with statistical information and Web tools to help patrons make well-planned career choices.

For more information on Career Transitions please visit: http://www.gale.cengage.com/careertransitions/public.htm

About Cengage Learning and Gale

Cengage Learning is a leading provider of innovative teaching, learning and research solutions for the academic, professional and library markets worldwide. Gale, part of Cengage Learning, serves the world's information and education needs through its vast and dynamic content pools, which are used by students and consumers in their libraries, schools and on the Internet. It is best known for the accuracy, breadth and convenience of its data, addressing all types of information needs - from homework help to health questions to business profiles - in a variety of formats. For more information, visit www.cengage.com or www.gale.com.

SOURCE Cengage Learning

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Language matters in job recommendations for men, women - Raleigh News & Observer

Posted: 16 Nov 2010 06:17 AM PST

Who doesn't appreciate a nice letter of recommendation?

Turns out some women might not want one.

In a study of the words used in reference letters, researchers at Rice University found marked differences in word choice, depending on whether the job candidates were men or women.

Male candidates were more often described with active or assertive words such as confident, ambitious, forceful, independent and intellectual.

Letters about female candidates were more likely to use social or emotive words such as helpful, kind, nurturing, tactful and agreeable.

Whereas men were more likely to be championed for influencing others, women were more likely to be appreciated for taking direction well.

And it didn't matter one bit whether the letter writer was male or female.

The study was focused on applicants for junior faculty positions, but it may translate into the larger work world. If so, it could spell trouble for candidates - male or female - whose recommendations are laden with "communal" rather than "agentic" words.

When the Rice researchers stripped out names and pronouns and submitted recommendation letters for hiring evaluation (also controlling for all other qualification variables), "The more communal characteristics mentioned, the lower the evaluation of the candidate," said Randi Martin, one of the professors who conducted the study.

The researchers believe this is the first study to show that these perceived gender differences in letters affect judgments of hirability. They acknowledge that broader research is needed.

Even with its limited sample, though, it builds on a body of research that suggests communal skills - generally perceived as female - aren't necessarily valued for leadership positions.

Also telling was a disparity noted in many of the recommendation letters. About women, writers were more likely to say she might make an excellent leader, while men were more likely praised as already a leader.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Diane Stafford is the workplace and careers columnist at The Kansas City Star. Her "Your Job" blog at economy.kansascity.com includes daily posts about job-related issues of wide interest. Readers may write to her at: Kansas City Star, 1729 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo. 64108-1413, or by e-mail at dstafford@kcstar.com.