Category: Your Career (Page 51 of 62)

      Four Ways To Make A Great Impression On Your Next Job Application

      January 19, 2011 /

      Too many young job seekers do not put enough thought and energy into preparing for a job interview. There are too many people currently looking for a job. You have to be memorable and standout from the crowd. If you have been struggling in job interview after job interview, there are a few things that you can do to help ensure that you will stand above the rest of the crowd on the next interview.

      Four Ways To Stand Out Before Your Next Interview…

    • Spruce Up Your Resume. Many people have not looked at their resume in years, and others have thrown it together after learning about the job interview. Like many business owners who say that you have to spend money to make money, paying for a resume consultant to clean up your resume and cover letter can pay dividends when you are looking for a new job. A professional resume writer knows exactly what style, format, and language human resource experts are looking for in today’s market.

    • Do Your Research. Like a good investor, you should research the company you are interviewing with for a job. You should know what they do, who their competitors are, what they company does well, and what it may need to improve on. You should know a little something about the company that you want to work for before you set one foot in the interview room. Doing a quick search on Google, looking at the company’s website, and reading as many articles you can about the business and its industry will set you apart from the rest of the applicants.

    • Get Some Coaching. A golf pro does not go out to the course without a few lessons along the way. Even Tiger Woods has a golf coach. You should consider taking some lessons from an interview coach. An interview coach can help make sure that you are prepared for the questions that will be peppered at you, look presentable, have the proper poise, and are well spoken. Also, if you get nervous and are intimidated at speaking in a public setting such as an interview, you may want to consider practicing public speaking through organizations such as Toast Masters International.

    • Pay Off Your Debt. Many young college graduates just entering the workforce do not realize that their new employers often check their credit report before offering them a job. In fact, 47% of employers pull an applicant’s credit report before hiring a potential new employee. Even the United States military checks credit reports before issuing a security clearance to its service members. Paying off some debt before you apply to your dream job can help boost your credit score.

      • Finally, follow up your interview with a thank you note or call to the person who interviewed you. It is such a simple thing to do and so often overlooked. A personal touch such as this will show that you are very serious about landing the job and will set you apart from all of the other applicants.

      Your Career

      Ride the Retail Wave While you Wait for Dream Job

      January 18, 2011 /

      Macys_Stockings_Dept

      Ok, so a retail job isn’t what you had in mind after graduating with a degree in accounting, but you have to make ends meet while you wait for Deloitte & Touche to call. Fortunately, according to Indeed.com, you won’t have to look for a temporary job for too long if you look to the retail Industry. Right now, retailers are in search of 400,000 employees to fill both full and part-time positions. These retail positions just are not just available at clothing stores. Retail is a broad term that covers the selling of just about any type of good or commodity. This means, retail job seekers will find positions in places ranging from Macy’s to Whole Foods to wax museums to automobile dealerships. 

      If you’re interested in a long-term retail career, you’re in luck because this trend is expected to continue. Retail careers are among the top thirty occupations with the largest employment growth for 2008-18. The following are projection figures (in thousands):

      Employment 2008: 4,489
      Employment 2018: 4,864
      Change: 8.4%

      Regarding salary, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that:

      Median hourly wages of wage-and-salary retail salespersons, including commissions, were $9.86 in May 2008. The middle 50 percent earned between $8.26 and $13.35 an hour. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $7.37, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $19.14 an hour. Many beginning or inexperienced workers earn the Federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, but many States set minimum wages higher than the Federal minimum. In areas where employers have difficulty attracting and retaining workers, wages tend to be higher than the legislated minimum.

      Compensation systems can vary by type of establishment and merchandise sold. Salespersons receive hourly wages, commissions, or a combination of the two. Under a commission system, salespersons receive a percentage of the sales they make. This system offers sales workers the opportunity to increase their earnings considerably, but they may find that their earnings depend strongly on their ability to sell their product and on the ups and downs of the economy.

      Benefits may be limited in smaller stores, but benefits in large establishments usually are considerable. In addition, nearly all salespersons are able to buy their store’s merchandise at a discount, with the savings depending on the type of merchandise. Also, to bolster revenue, employers may use incentive programs such as awards, bonuses, and profit-sharing plans to the sales staff.

      To break into the retail industry, experience helps, but most employers are willing to train the right person on-the-job. To begin your job search, visit Indeed.com.

      Your Career, Your Compensation, Your Education, Your Team, Your Workplace

      100,000 IT Jobs Gained in 2010

      January 14, 2011 /

      Information Technology

      When it came to employment, the IT industry ended 2010 with a bang by adding 3,500 jobs in December. This represents the 13th consecutive monthly increase for IT employment.

      According to a monthly index of IT jobs developed and published by TechServe Alliance, a collaboration of IT services firms, clients, consultants and suppliers, in December, IT employment stood at 3,911,900  jobs; reflecting incremental growth of 0.1 percent. Along with December’s positive news were upward revisions of both October’s and November’s IT employment numbers. On a year-over-year basis, IT employment was up 2.6 percent, approximately 100,000 jobs, compared to only a 0.9 percent increase in total non-farm employment.

      Mark Roberts, CEO of TechServe Alliance mentions that the industry has not yet gained all of the jobs back that were lost during the economic downturn, but gaining 100,000 IT jobs in 2010 is “most welcome news.” This is also great news for graduates and anyone entering college with their eye on establishing a career in the IT industry.

      So what does it take to get your foot in the door at one of the nation’s top IT firms? A bachelor’s degree is the minimum requirement for most IT positions, no matter where you apply. For management positions, most employers require a graduate degree, specifically an MBA with a technology focus. Common majors for undergraduates include management information systems (MIS), computer science, or information science. Job experience through an internship or other IT position is also required.

      While IT employment is expected to grow overall, some career fields within the IT industry are expected to grow faster than others. For example, employment for “computer and information systems managers” is expected to grow by 17 percent for the 2008-2018 decade while employment for “computer software engineers and computer programmers” is expected to grow by an impressive 21 percent. Even better is “computer network, systems, and database administrators” at 23 percent.

      IT salaries are at an all-time high as well. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. IT professionals can expect to earn an average median salary of anywhere from $69,740 on the low end, up to $112,210+ per year on the high end.

      Image Credit

      Information Technology Services of Cabarrus County, NC
      www.cabarruscounty.us/ITS

      Your Business, Your Career, Your Compensation, Your Education, Your Workplace

      Widespread Layoffs Lead to More Workplace Discrimination Filings

      January 12, 2011 /

      Hearing Impaired Person at Workplace_Wikimedia Commons

      It happened after the 2001 recession and it’s happening again. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a report stating that workplace discrimination filings increased from 93,277 to 99,922 between September 2009 and the end of September 2010. The 7.2 increase is the highest level of new discrimination cases ever recorded.

      Workplace discrimination cases are typically filed when a worker feels he has been unfairly treated based on sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or other protected category. The EEOC report shows that the largest increase in filings was from disabled workers. According to a recent NYT report, “this increase may be linked to recent changes in the legal definition of disability to make it more expansive. The Obama administration’s growing reputation of greater interest in discrimination cases than its predecessor may also have increased filings. But experts say the chief reason for the increase in accusations of prejudice is most likely tied to the broad layoffs of the last few years.”

      Many employer’s feel that most of the discrimination case filings with the EEOC  are “spurious attempts by workers with no job opportunities who have not experienced discrimination.”

      “The majority of the time, the EEOC is still finding no reasonable cause for the charges being filed,” said Michael S. Burkhardt, an employment partner in the Philadelphia office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius who represents employers in discrimination class-action suits. “In some cases, people are just upset that they were terminated, and they happen to be in a protected category. Even if that has nothing to do with why they were terminated, they still file a charge.”

      He added that employers have had to become increasingly careful about how they structure layoffs when they reduce their work forces, as many have done since the financial crisis began several years ago.

      If you feel that you have been discriminated against in the workplace, contact the U.S. Employment Opportunity Commission at 1-800-669-4000 (1-800-669-6820 TTY) or visit the official EEOC website at www.eeoc.gov.

      Your Business, Your Career, Your Network, Your Workplace

      Ford to Hire 7,000 Plus by 2012

      January 11, 2011 /

      Ford_Auto Show 1-10-11

      Ford Motor Company has announced plans to hire around 7,250 workers by 2012. Included in the figure are 1,800 new hires for 2011 at the company’s Louisville, Kentucky plant. Of the 7,250 new hires, 4,000 hourly positions and 750 salaried positions will be added in 2011, and 2,500 hourly jobs will be added in 2012. Ford made the announcement during a presentation at the North American International Auto Show Press Preview in Detroit on January 10, 2011.

      Besides Kentucky, it is not yet known where the other Ford jobs will be located. Ford executives have yet to reveal this information, but what has been revealed are more promising details about where the company, and the auto industry, are headed.

      Ford’s domestic sales increased 15 percent in 2010, and its market share grew for the second consecutive year, an achievement it had not experienced since 1993.

      Jeff Schuster, an analyst with J. D. Power & Associates, has projected sales would rise to 12.8 million vehicles in 2011 and 15 million in 2012, from 11.6 million last year. Ford and General Motors said last week that they expected industrywide sales this year of up to 13.5 million.

      The hiring would give Ford nearly as many hourly workers in the United States as G.M., which also made drastic cuts in recent years and now has 53,000.

      Both Ford and G.M. earned large profits in 2010, largely because of cutting labor costs and other expenses. Through the first three quarters, earnings were $6.4 billion at Ford and $4.2 billion at G.M. Neither has revealed their financial results for the fourth quarter.

      Your Business, Your Career, Your Workplace

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