Category: Your Business (Page 26 of 30)

      Older Workers Get a Facelift, Literally

      December 27, 2010 /

      Cosmetic Surgery_24655996

      In a recent Tribune news report, several workers ages 50 or better discussed a trend that seems to be catching on in the career world. Older workers, both men and women, are opting for cosmetic procedures more often in order to make themselves more marketable and even in an attempt to hold onto their jobs. One Evergreen Park, Il. woman (a 64-year-old receptionist in a doctor’s office) discussed an ultimatum she received from her boss—do something about your hair or be transferred to a job with less patient contact. Another Illinois resident discussed how working out at the gym for two hours a day, embracing the latest fashions, and coloring her grays was not enough. The resident, Charlotte Doyle age 61, decided to get her teeth straightened after losing her position as a pharmaceutical salesperson after 29 years on the job. “I would do it all—botox, lasers, everything—if I could afford it. If it meant getting hired, I would do whatever I could to stop time,” Doyle said.

      Some older workers and even older business owners have decided to take even more drastic measures to shave years from their appearance. Hair salon owner Linda Stanojevic got a midface lift because she thought, “How am I going to make someone else look attractive if it seems that I don’t care about my looks.” And Michael Krause, age 65, decided to get an eyelift  to be a more competitive job candidate. Krause, who thought his eyes made him look old and tired states, “I’m glad I did it because it has given me more confidence. And considering the rejection, that’s something you really need.”

      It’s true, looks do count when it comes to increasing your chances of getting (and keeping) a job, according to several research studies on the subject. In one research study, Screening job applicants: The impact of physical attractiveness and application, L.M. Watkins & L. Johnston wrote: “There is considerable empirical evidence that physical attractiveness impacts employment decision making, with the result that the more attractive an individual, the greater the likelihood that that person will be hired.” And in another study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, K. Dion (and colleagues) wrote: “This generalization is known as the “what is beautiful is good” stereotype.”

      A review of the literature supports the notion that being physically attractive is an advantage when applying for a job. There is little support for the “beauty is beastly” effect. The “what is beautiful is good” bias seems fairly universal and has been found in a variety of different cultures. Since it is not fair to base hiring decisions on non-job-related factors like attractiveness, training hiring managers to avoid this bias is one way to reduce such inequity.

      In the meantime, the Evergreen Park receptionist, who wanted to remain anonymous, has this advice for older workers that may be experiencing a change in appearance (and treatment) due to aging, “No matter where you work, do something before everyone starts to notice.”

      Your Business, Your Career, Your Workplace

      Can Working Overseas Help You Get a Job Back Home?

      December 24, 2010 /

      Downtown Hong Kong 

      There’s no doubt about it – even with solid job growth in dozens of career fields for the 2008-2018 projections decade, the competition for high-paying positions is still intense. Employers are always on the look out for the cream of the crop, so today’s young job seeker must accumulate admirable list of accomplishments in order to have a leg up on everyone else.

      Besides having an impressive list of accomplishments at the academic level, employers such as Ernst & Young are also interested in applicants who have worked overseas in an internship or other job, or served with an organization such as the Peace Corps. Ernst & Young’s director of campus recruiting for the Americas, Dan Black, says that as far as he is concerned, young applicants with this background have a leg up on everyone else.

      “We definitely see overseas experience as an advantage,” he says. He directs campus hiring for the London-based accounting and consulting giant, which has 140,000 employees worldwide. “Our clients are demanding more of us these days,” he explains. “They want diversity of thought and diversity of values, and many of our clients are multinationals.”

      Employers feel the advantages do not stop here.

      Dawn Chandler, a management professor at California Polytechnic State University, notes that spending time abroad can teach workers to deal with very different leadership styles. In Scandinavian countries, for instance, leadership is more egalitarian and participatory and less authoritarian. In Asia, on the other hand, the gulf in power between junior employees and leaders is much deeper. The U.S. falls somewhere in between.

      Another advantage, notes Chandler: Time overseas familiarizes you with international legislation and standards. “If your firm wants to open a plant in China, it helps if you know how to get through the bureaucracy there,” she says.

      Finding yourself a member of a minority group in a foreign country can be character building, both professionally and personally, notes Gary Baker, the U.S. global mobility leader for the consulting and accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, which has offices in 154 countries. “It gives you a greater respect for other cultures, and you learn to be better at managing teams that are diverse.”

      According to Mary Ann Walsh, a New York career and executive coach specializing in global talent management, climbing the ladder overseas is much faster than climbing the career ladder in the U.S.

      Walsh has a number of American clients who moved overseas shortly after college and graduate school. They advanced much more quickly than if they had tried to climb the career ladder in the U.S. One young woman who works in financial services is already doing deals with senior Chinese executives even though she doesn’t speak Mandarin.

      Another client of Walsh’s headed to London for a financial services job straight from college. Then he went to Hong Kong. He lost that job, but he was quickly snatched up by a boutique firm. Now 30 years old, he was recently hired by Goldman Sachs ( GS – news – people ) in Asia. “Over there, the recession was just a blip on the radar screen,” Walsh notes.

      Working overseas is not just for fresh graduates. Mid-career professionals tend to move up faster with their current company after returning from a stint overseas as well. If you are interested in working overseas, opportunities for Americans are abundant in China, Brazil, and Russia.

      To learn more about getting a job overseas, pick up a copy of International Jobs: Where They Are and How to Get Them by Nina Segal. Segal is an international career development consultant in New York.

      Your Business, Your Career, Your Education, Your Workplace

      Cities with the Best (and Worst) Job Outlook Revealed

      December 22, 2010 /

      Baton_Rouge

      If you have been searching for a job in your state that will allow you to “utilize your skills and education,” but you have had zero success, you might want to consider relocating. Although employers overall are hopeful about hiring in the first quarter of 2011—a promising 9 percent expect to be hiring, some cities are in a much better position to do so than others. At the top of the list of best cities for jobs is none other than Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

      A recent Manpower Employment Services survey of 18,000 employers in 100 metropolitan areas revealed that Baton Rouge has an 18 percent net employment outlook. This figure is based on the number of employers that expect to add employees, which is actually 22 percent, minus the percentage who expect to reduce the number of employees (4 percent). Even better news is, the city that rarely dips below 50 degrees is enjoying growth in construction, digital media, and wood products. The city also plans to build three new hospitals in 2011, so there will be plenty of health care jobs to go around.

      Baton Rouge is not the only city that will enjoy exceptional job growth in the first quarter of 2011. The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington metropolitan area has a net employment outlook of 15 percent, followed by Milwakuee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisconsin at 14 percent. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona; Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio are tied for fourth place with a net employment outlook of 12 percent. The Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tennessee metropolitan area; San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, California, and the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C./Va/Md./W.V. area are tied for fifth place with a net employment outlook of 11 percent.

      So what are the worst cities for employment this winter? According to a recent Forbes report:

      The net employment outlook in metro areas like Boise, Houston, Los Angeles, and Providence, R.I., is flat at 0%–and they aren’t even the worst. Akron, Ohio; Colorado Springs, Colo.; and Columbia, S.C., are tied for the No. 1 spot on the list of the worst cities for finding a job.

      Only 8% of surveyed Akron employers plan to hire more employees between January and March, while 11% expect to reduce their payrolls. Seventy-nine percent expect to maintain their current workforce and 2% are unsure about their plans. This yields a net employment outlook of -3% for a city that relies largely on traditional industries, like Goodyear Tire and Rubber ( GT – news – people ) and Roadway Express. The same goes for Colorado Springs and Columbia.

      The good news is, overall, the U.S. has seen five straight quarters of survey results that indicate an uptick in hiring activity, according to Melanie Holmes, Manpower’s vice president. Holmes also states that “the trend is in the right direction, but we would all like to see employer confidence improve and the pace of hiring pick up.”

      Your Business, Your Career, Your Workplace

      Common Myths and Misconceptions About Job Interviews

      December 17, 2010 /

      Job Interview

      A recent Forbes report has helped ease the fears of the millions of job seekers that march out the door each day in hopes of acing that all-important interview. What most interviewees don’t realize is, even the interviewer can be nervous, distracted, ill-prepared, and a host of other things that can affect the way they ask questions and respond to your answers.

      For your reading pleasure, Forbes has compiled a top ten list of “things” that are considered to be common myths of job interviewing. So, the thing to take away from this article is this: don’t go home after your interview and waste time and energy raking every word you said over the coals, because what you didn’t say or do might actually seal the deal for you.

      1. The interviewer is prepared.
      The person interviewing you is likely harried and overworked, because he needs to hire someone. He may have barely glanced at your résumé and given no thought to your qualifications.

      2. The interviewer asks good questions.
      Many interviewers prepare no questions in advance beyond “Tell me about yourself.” “They usually just wing it,” says David Couper, a Los Angeles career and executive coach and the author of Outsiders on the Inside: How to Create a Winning Career … Even When You Don’t Fit In.

      3. They want you to accept their offer of refreshment.
      Interviewers feel obliged to be polite and offer you a drink, but they do not really want to go fetch that cup of tea.

      4. The interviewer wants additional materials like references.
      Unless you’re a designer or writer, the interviewer does not want you to hand over reports or reference materials.

      5. There’s a right answer to an interviewer’s question.
      When you’re asked a tough question, the interviewer is usually more interested in seeing how you go about addressing it than in precisely what you end up saying.

      6. You should keep your answers short.
      The interviewer doesn’t want to have to think of another question to ask you. “If you’re giving information that’s hitting what they need to know, then they’re happy,” says Couper.

      7. Hiring managers value skills over physical attractiveness.
      There’s a lot of research that demonstrates that looks do matter, Couper says. What should an unattractive job seeker do? “Plastic surgery,” he deadpans.

      8. When they ask where you want to be in five years, they want you to demonstrate ambition.
      What they really want: your willingness to toil away at the same job happily and indefinitely.

      9. If you’re invited to an interview, the job is still open.
      Frequently hiring managers just go through the motions of interviewing candidates after having picked an inside applicant or someone with a personal connection to the company.

      10. The most qualified person gets the job.
      Couper himself says he’s hired less qualified but friendlier applicants over more talented job seekers who seemed they might be difficult to get along with. 

      Your Business, Your Career, Your Workplace

      Guess Who’s Hiring?

      December 15, 2010 /
      Delhi, India Metro Train

      Delhi, India Metro Train

      The figures are in. According to Forbes, the U.S. has a 9 percent hiring outlook for the first quarter of 2011. Under the circumstances, this is decent, if not good news for Americans. The adjusted Outlook for Quarter 1 2011 is up from +5% during the same period last year and +5% during Quarter 4 2010. The latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey also revealed:

      -Five Straight Quarters of Employment Growth: Employers report a positive overall hiring Outlook since the start of 2010, according to seasonally adjusted data.

      -Widespread Stability: The percentage of employers planning to keep staff levels unchanged persists at unsurpassed levels, and those in seven of the 13 industry sectors surveyed expect to remain relatively stable compared to Quarter 4 2010.

      -Current Outlook Still Below Past Decade’s Average: Despite positive signals, the Quarter 1 2011 Outlook is nearly five percentage points below the average Outlook from 2001 to 2010.

      Although the hiring outlook in the U.S. shows positive signals, other countries are set to hire at a much higher rate. India is first place on the Forbes list of best countries for new jobs, with a 42 percent net hiring outlook for the first quarter of 2011. China is close behind at 40 percent, and Taiwan is third with a net employment outlook of 37 percent. In fourth is Brazil with a 36 percent net hiring outlook, Turkey is in fifth with 27 percent, and Singapore is in sixth with a 26 percent net hiring outlook.

      “The results are striking, if not surprising,” Forbes said referring to “that unbelievable job growth” reflected in the survey of 64,000 human resource directors and senior hiring managers from public and private companies worldwide.

      The survey shows that almost half, 47 percent of them, of expectations for hiring in the first quarter of 2011 came from 10 countries in the Americas, 24 percent from eight countries in Asia and the Pacific, and 29 percent from Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

      “This is very much a macro-economic look at new job creation,” the staffing firm’s chairman and chief executive, Jeffrey Joerres, was cited as saying.

      Your Business, Your Career, Your Education, Your Workplace

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