Today I came across a news story on the website of the Daily Telegraph (telegraph.co.uk) that might be interesting to anyone looking for a job and even for everybody who currently has a job. It also confirms a feeling that most people who closely follow the selection and recruitment sector have. And it also confirms the results of some focus groups and surveys that we at Profacts have run among job seekers and recruitment professionals.

According to new figures released by Microsoft checking the profile on social network sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, has become as important as a CV or an interview. In this study HR managers at the top 100 companies in the US, the UK, Germany and France were surveyed and 70% of them admitted that they had already rejected job candidates because of the things they saw on the candidates’ publicly available online profile, such as drunken photographs, foul language and messages revealing a poor work attitude. However, on the positive side, these HR managers also said that a strong and impressive online profile could be an advantage to people looking for a job. Peter Cullen, of Microsoft, has put it this way: “Your online reputation is not something to be scared of, it’s something to be proactively managed. These days, it’s essential that web-users cultivate the kind of online reputation that they would want an employer to see.”

But even if you already have a job, the online profile on your favorite social network site might be something to actively manage. Farhan Yasin, of online recruitment network careerbuilder.co.uk, said that his research has found that 28% of employers had already fired employees for content found on their social networking profile. More specifically Mr. Yasin said: “A huge number of employers have taken action against staff for writing negative comments about the company or another employee on their social networking page. Social networking is a great way to make connections with job opportunities in 2010 and promote your personal brand across the internet. People really need to make sure they are using this resource to their advantage, by conveying a professional image.”

When Steve Jobs presented the new iPad, bloggers were quick to criticize the new device. Even during his speech, the limitations of the iPad were already discussed on the internet. The main recurring limitations in these reviews are the fact that the iPad does not have a camera or a phone, the fact that it is not possible to run more than one application at the same  time and its name “iPad”, which draws a lot of jokes related to feminine hygiene (“Yes, the iPad is small, lightweight and slim. But can you swim with it?” wrote the Los Angeles Times’ tech blog). The title of a post at Gizmodo, “8 things that suck about the iPad”, probably brings home the negative message most clearly. After a couple of days, reactions became slightly less polarized and the new consensus seems to be that the iPad is not really a big disappointment, but neither a revolutionary step forwards.

We believe, however, that the iPad is likely to accelerate the shift from print to online media and in this way it might prove to be a revolutionary device indeed. First of all, the shortcomings of the iPad, such as the fact that there is no camera or phone or the fact that it is not possible to run multiple applications at the same time, are relatively easy to fix and Apple is likely to do so relatively quickly.

Second and more importantly, some major publishing houses (such as Penguin & Simon & Schuster) and newspapers (such as the New York Times) have already made a deal with Apple to provide books and access to the electronic version of newspapers on the iPad. Probably, by this deal these big companies are trying to turn the trend from print to online into their advantage. Until now, almost no consumers have been willing to pay for online content, but with the iPad this might change, comparable to the revolution in the online music industry. Although the music industry still blames Apple for its near monopoly in digital downloading of music with the iTunes store, Apple has proven to be almost the only company – and definitely the most successful one – in getting consumers to pay for online music. With the iPad the same pattern might repeat itself, but now for online books, newspapers and magazines. The fact that major publishing houses and newspapers are so eager to play a role from the very start might just prove that.

Third, in looking at business developments we have always found it very useful to investigate the reaction of the competition. In this case, firms that have put dedicated e-readers on the market, such as Amazon (with its e-reader Kindle) or Plastic Logic (with its e-reader Que proReader), have started to make their products more multifaceted and exciting, exactly because they have since quite some time expected the entry of Apple onto their terrain. Most of these firms have also decided recently to allow software developing companies to create applications that could run on their products in order to make them more versatile.

Finally, although we know there are many reasons not to do so, we think in this case it might be useful to look at history to predict the future. Taking into account Apple’s excellent track record of revolutionizing industries, we believe Apple’s iPad will now take on the online print industry. The main stakeholders, such as major newspapers and publishers, and the main competitors, such as the producers of e-readers, are betting on it and we are following this bet.

Half of Belgian employers think 2010 will be a better year – economically speaking – than 2009. However, six out of ten companies still think that they will have to take crisis measures in 2010, such as a hiring stops and lay-offs. That is what 130 business leaders indicated in a recent survey by Jobat and Profacts.

Two thirds of the business leaders that participated in the research admit that they have felt the crisis in their company, but an overwhelming majority of them is convinced that within the next year business will be much better. Nevertheless, this renewed optimism doesn’t mean the end of the many painful anti-crisis measures that were taken in response to the economic crisis.  Almost six out of ten business leaders expect that they will have to take additional measures in 2010. Hiring stops, technical unemployment, more temporary contracts en further lay-offs are the most probable of such measures.

A quarter of the companies that completed the survey had to lay off employees in 2009. This year only 8 percent of companies expect that this will be the case. Most companies – about two thirds – actually expect that they will hire new employees; especially commercial, technical and engineering profiles.

One third of the companies expect that their turnover in 2010 will be higher than last year, on average by 7,6 percent. Most companies (54%) are expecting a status quo. The remaining 15 percent think that this year will be worse than last year and they expect a drop in turnover of 8,2 percent on average.

All results of this survey can be found on www.jobat.be/2010.

There are now 7.292.300 internet users in Belgium, which means that internet penetration is now at 70%. Since 2000, the number of internet users in Belgium has almost tripled. With these numbers, internet penetration in Belgium is well above the European average (EU27) of 60% and above the internet penetration of countries such as France (69%), Ireland (67%), Germany (66%) and Italy (52%).

Internet penetration is especially high in the Scandinavion countries (Denmark: 84%, Norway: 91%, Sweden: 89%, Finland: 83%) and in The Netherlands (86%).

Looking at the rest of the world, internet penetration is also high in the United States (74%), Japan (75%), Korea (77%) and in Australia and New Zealand (both 80%).

Although internet penetration is much lower in China (27%), in absolute terms there are more Chinese internet users (360 million) than in the USA (228 million).

We have recently conducted an analysis on the incentives that our panelists received during 2009. The results were surprising and above our own expectations! In order to reward our panelists for their collaboration, we have given almost 700 cinema tickets, 162 Fnac vouchers ranging from 5€ to 250€, 38 vouchers from other channels such as Kadocheque and MediaMarkt (up to €250) and several other incentives such as Blackberries, iPod’s, PSP’s, Netbooks, etc. Total value of our incentives in 2009 was almost €25000. Our employee Steven is responsible for all incentive handling and his work on this has been excellent. We realize that the collaboration of our panelists is crucial for Profacts. In 2010, we want to even increase the total value of our incentives, and we also plan a large survey among our own panelists to know how we can further improve our surveys and rewarding system.

The communication agency Brandhome and ZiZo-magazine organize PINK BRAND OF THE YEAR 2009. Which brand is the most popular brand within the holebi community in Belgium and can call itself PINK BRAND OF THE YEAR 2009? Profacts programmed the survey and analyzed the results for the selection of PINK BRAND OF THE YEAR 2009 and will be present at the award ceremony on Tuesday January 19th 2010 in the Red&Blue in Antwerp! Also you can become a fan of PINK BRAND OF THE YEAR on Facebook.

Three out of ten Flemish employees think there is a real chance that they will lose their job next year. Only one in three thinks the economic situation is currently better than at the end of 2008. These are the main conclusions of a market research among 3.500 Flemish people that Profacts performed for Jobat.

At the end of 2008, 27% of Flemish employees feared for their job. One year later, on the basis of the same research by Profacts for Jobat, this number has increased slightly to 29%. Although the economic news of the past weeks was dominated by green shoots of economic recovery, six out of ten people still think the economic outlook has worsened or stayed the same since the end of 2008.

Over sixty percent of Flemish employees think that most companies will have to lay off more people in 2010. However, only one quarter of employees thinks this is the case for their own company. Employees also expect companies to take additional cost-reducing measures, such as longer working hours, lower salaries for starters and an increase of temporary work contracts.

People who are currently looking for a job are also prepared to adapt their expectations to the current economic situation. One in three say that they are prepared to work longer hours, to accept fewer extralegal advantages and to work in weekends. However, only 15 percent of people looking for a job are prepared to accept a lower salary.

Employees working in the media and communication sector are most uncertain about the future. Half of them think there is a real chance of losing their job in 2010. Energy, environment and social care are the sectors that Flemish employees perceive as most certain to work in.

If you are interested in more results of this research, you can click here!

Trends announced Patrick Wauters as Marketeer of the Year 2009. Patrick Wauters (40) is Vice President Fresh Convenience Europa and Middle East and Managing Director Chiquita Fresh in Belgium. Trends was especially impressed by the way Patrick Wauters turned Chiquita in Europe from a distributor of bananas into a distributor of energy snacks. Profacts congratulates Patrick Wauters with his title of Marketeer of the Year 2009.

Profacts wrote an article for the November issue of Marketing Driven (supplement of PUB) about the need for market research in pricing studies. Timothy argued that market research is extremely valuable for price-related questions. First, knowing the price sensitivity of customers before your competitors do, gives you a competitive advantage. Second, price is often a barometer which indicates quality. In some cases, a higher price can actually increase sales because of a higher perceived quality! The article further discusses interesting methods and developments such as PSM (price sensitivity measurement), CBC (choice-based conjoint), and differential pricing techniques on the internet. Curious? Buy the November issue of Marketing Driven/Pub or contact Profacts!

Profacts has recently developed  a “how happy are you at work” tool for Jobat. The test was developed within the framework of our own Employee Engagement model. Our model allows employers to measure the strength of the relation between employer and employees, and gives concrete advice and actionable recommendations about how to improve it. The model has been validated internationally. In Flanders, we found that teachers have the highest Engagement of all employees, remarkable!

Curious? Test it yourself here!

A message about one of our studies can be found here.