Author: Staff (Page 56 of 62)

More employees facing pay cuts

August 4, 2010 / Staff

The high unemployment rate continues to have an adverse affect even on those who still have jobs.

The furloughs that popped up during the recession are being replaced by a highly unusual tactic: actual cuts in pay.
Local and state governments, as well as some companies, are squeezing their employees to work the same amount for less money in cost-saving measures that are often described as a last-ditch effort to avoid layoffs.
A new report on Tuesday showed a slight dip in overall wages and salaries in June, caused partly by employees working fewer hours.
Though average hourly pay is still higher than when the recession began, the new wage rollbacks feed worries that the economy has weakened and could even be at risk of deflation. That is when the prices of goods and assets fall and people withhold spending as they wait for prices to drop further, a familiar idea to those following the recent housing market.

When it comes to public jobs, many of these cuts may be justified, as we’ve seen many examples of inefficiencies in the public sector. In that sense some of these adjustments are good for the overall economy in the long run.

That said, many of these cuts are painful, and this won’t help get the economy moving in the short term.

Your Compensation

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Building a Better Career Through Online College Programs

August 3, 2010 / Staff

Tired of that dead-end job that seems to be leading you nowhere? Tired of seeing your friends take advantage of their education while purchasing a new home or vacationing to some exotic location? Tired of putting money into that rusted out, car that you’ve been nursing along for the last hundred thousand miles?

If you have questions or concerns on the direction your education is taking your career, then it might be time to investigate the possibilities of improving your life with online college programs.

With improvements in teaching and technology over the last decade, there are now thousands of accredited universities across the country that offer online learning. The scope of learning from these institutions teaches everything from business to online Culinary management programs. Other programs that millions of career minded individuals are studying online include: Nursing, Accounting, Engineering, Communications, Computer Science, Meteorology and Information Technology.

Furthering your education can be as easy as spending several night per making a commitment to your education. In order to better prepare oneself in today’s selective job market, those that consider improving their education have an advantage over those that do not.

Be prepared to be overwhelmed by the number of institutions that offer online learning. For those looking to better themselves through education, don’t just start finding your career without some investigation. The internet is a plentiful source of information for these cyber, learning institutions. By spending a few hours perusing the kind of degrees available, and the leaning institutions that offer those degrees, you may be able to narrow your education focus and complete your degree faster.

Spending some time prior to your education experience will help narrow your career options. If you minimize the time pursuing your education, you will be earning the money you think you deserve in a career that you love.

Your Education

Did Abraham Lincoln Take the LSAT Prep Course?

August 1, 2010 / Staff

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States. He presided over our nation during the bloody civil war, holding the union together during that searing, unspeakably tragic conflict. His courageous leadership helped bring about the end of slavery. Add to all this, Lincoln was also regarded as one of the greatest public speakers of his time, or any time.

A lawyer, senator, and renowned orator before becoming President, Lincoln was largely a self-educated man. According to Lincoln himself, he studied “with nobody.” His humility and humor were two of his greatest attributes. Somehow, without access to much in the way of a formal education, he developed a keen mind for reasoning and argument, and forged a successful law practice and a career in politics.

How did he do it? He read. He committed to a life of learning, all on his own. He studied law, he studied argument, he knew the Bible and the works of William Shakespeare backwards and forwards. He developed his skills as an orator and communicator.

In the 1800s it was still possible to practice law without a degree. Lincoln’s own self-directed course of study so prepared him for a career in law, however, he was admitted into the Illinois bar association in 1837. His great abilities as a writer and orator brought him notice in the community, and his great debates against Senator Stephen Douglas brought him national renown, and ultimately, the Presidency.

No, Lincoln didn’t have a degree, he didn’t go to law school and he didn’t take the LSAT prep course. However, any aspiring young lawyer can take inspiration from Lincoln’s example. Study English, study writing, practice public speaking and debate and study the great books. Take the LSAT prep course, apply to law school and commit to a life of learning.

Your Education

Clicking at work

July 12, 2010 / Staff

Interpersonal skills are often very important for success at work. Think about this for your own career, and if you’re hiring people.

By aggregating new research from various fields—since no specific discipline addresses the phenomenon— we endeavored upon a project to find what actually happens when two people click. More importantly, we wanted to discover if and how these moments shape our lives. While researching this topic, we initially discovered two big surprises. First, some people are more naturally inclined to form clicking relationships. Second, these people are much more likely to succeed in the workplace. Clicking at work can mean a promotion, a raise, or a position at the center of the company’s social network. Take someone like Moseley. “I do an accountant’s job, which is really administrative,” she reflected. “Because of my relationship with Kelly, I now get invited to events, meetings, and conferences that I’d have no business going to as an accountant.” Professionally, the relationship was mutually beneficial. “Knowing Heather,” McVicker says, “I find out what’s on people’s minds. As a supervisor this is crucial information.”
Moseley wasn’t strategically kissing up to a superior. Rather, she possesses a trait that University of Minnesota psychologist Mark Snyder has dubbed “high self-monitoring.” By interviewing subjects about their ability to imitate the behavior of others and to become the center of attention, Snyder developed a scale of self-monitoring. High self-monitors, he discovered, are social chameleons. Without even realizing it, they adapt their personalities, behavior, and attitudes to fit the people around them. They pick up subtle social cues and tailor their responses to the situation.

Adaptability – that’s the key. It’s not being fake, just understanding that context is everything, and work is no exception.

Your Career, Your Workplace

More workers use the beach as their office

July 5, 2010 / Staff

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This is a great trend. With easy high-speed Internet access and improved technology, more people can work anywhere they like, and many of them are choosing to work at the beach.

While you’re Dilberting away in your cubicle, there are people taking conference calls in board shorts and flip-flops. While you’re saving your two weeks of vacation to hit the sand, they’re getting paid to be there. There are people—even respectable people—who have somehow turned a folding chair into a place of work.
Aided by technology, pioneers are now converting the beach into a fully functional office. People who work from the beach in non-hotel, non-burger-stand, non-pot-dealer capacities are still rare enough that no agency tracks the phenomenon. Brooks Brothers does not yet make a three-piece bathing suit; Herman Miller doesn’t sell an Aeron chaise.
It’s not like these beach workers are slackers; they just don’t like being controlled. It’s the same reason why we TiVo shows or e-mail and text more than call. When you can work from wherever you want to be—especially if it’s the place where everyone wants to be—work isn’t so bad.
It helps to be self-employed.

Yes, it definitely helps to be self-employed. It’s frankly one of the best reasons to take control of your career and start your own business from home . . . or the beach.

That said, this option is open to everyone who is willing to take more control of their career. Sure, you may not be able to do it all the time, but you’d be surprised how often you can escape the office if you begin to train your boss.

This is one of the arguments popularized by Tim Ferris. Check out his site at 4-Hour Workweek for ways to do this. In a nutshell, they key is showing your boss over time that you can spend days away from the office and still be just as productive. Once you establish this, it won’t matter whether you do this from your home or from an exotic beach. He doesn’t have to know and he shouldn’t care if he does.

Your Business, Your Career, Your Workplace

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