Survey: 82% of workers have search-ready résumés

Percentage of workers who said they would be ready to conduct a job search if they lost their job tomorrow, according to a survey developed by Robert Half International: 82

Percentage of respondents who had updated their résumé in the last three months: 20

Percentage who hadn’t revised their résumés in more than a year: 44

Consulting for job security
Percentage of chief financial officers who said the security of remaining actively employed was the No. 1 reason they would consider consulting, according to a Robert Half International Management Resources survey: 26

Percentage who said that flexible schedules were their reason for considering consulting: 21

Percentage who cited the variety and challenge of consulting work as their reason: 20

Hurdles to re-entry
Percentage of workers who said “acclimating to a different corporate culture and colleagues” would pose the greatest challenge when re-entering the work force after an extended absence, according to a survey by OfficeTeam: 32

Percentage of respondents who also cited learning new technologies or protocols: 23
Benefits extension

Percentage of likely voters who say extending unemployment benefits and business tax breaks justify increasing the deficit, according to a Zogby International interactive survey: 48

Percentage who say federal spending on jobs is more important than the deficit: 53

Unemployment fallout
Of those Americans who have experienced an unemployment spell of at least six months, percentage who report that the recession has caused major changes in their lives, according to a Pew Research Center survey for People and the Press: 44

Percentage of those unemployed more than six months who say joblessness has strained family relations, compared with 39 percent of those who were out of work for less than three months: 46

Percentage of long-term unemployed who say they have lost contact with close friends: 43

Reference checks
Percentage of job candidates that managers remove from consideration after speaking to their professional references, according to a survey from OfficeTeam: 21

Percentage of hiring managers who said they are most interested in getting input on an applicant’s past job duties and experience: 36

Percentage who said they are most interested in learning about the individual’s strengths and weaknesses: 31

Staff potential and growth
Percentage of leaders from North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific who consider high-potential talent management programming, designed for employees who have the capability to take on significantly more responsibility and challenges to climb several levels beyond a current role,  as a critical business investment during the upswing of 2010, according to a PDI Ninth House-conducted study by Weber Shandwick and the Dice Report: 66

Percentage of leaders who said they kept their high-potential program going through the downturn and will continue to do so: 38

Gender and work perks
As the number of women surpasses men in the work force, percentage of teenage boys who said they needed perks such as a promotion and raise to excel on the job, according to a Junior Achievement/ING poll: 56

Percentage of teenage girls who said the same: 38

Job gain expectations
Percentage of Americans who agree that many of the jobs lost during the recession are not likely to come back, and that many employers will ask more of current employees instead of hiring new ones, according to a Zogby poll: 60

Percentage who believe America’s best days still lie ahead: 43

Career paths
Percentage of teens who are interested in pursuing a STEM – science, technology, engineering and math education – career, according to the 2010 Lemelson-MIT Invention Index: 77

Percentage who would be interested in STEM simply by having teachers who enjoy and understand what they are teaching: 55

Résumé reviews
Percentage of résumés that have some type of lie, according to a survey conducted by BackTrack Inc.: 40

Percentage of companies hiring today that will contract with a background-checking company to screen potential employees: 50

Percentage that will screen potential employees internally: 25

John MacIntyre is a Nova Scotia-based author and former city magazine editor. His “Figuratively Speaking” column, launched in 1989, is published in more than 40 newspapers and magazines.[[In-content Ad]]