Employment

Job Hunting Tips For 2016

February 26, 2016 By Twila Van Leer

When you are looking for a job, consider job-looking your job. Make it a serious full time objective. Here are some job hunting tips anyone can use.

Job Hunting – Lacking motivation?

Enlist a friend to keep you moving. Have him/her check with you regularly and be ready with a list of things you have done since the last checkup. Job hunting can be demoralizing.

Start with a written outline of short-term and long-term goals.

What is it you are looking for specifically? Getting a resume into the hands of two prospective employers every day while the search is on is a good short-term goal, for instance.

Develop healthy habits.

Get up early and be ready to begin the job of job-searching. Job hunting can be done in the morning. Follow up immediately on any leads, making notes on contacts for later reference. Make a to-do list before retiring as a guide to the next day’s activities.

Explore all options.

Research the opportunities for the job you are seeking, including the expected pay range. If necessary, consider additional education or specialized training to make you more eligible for the job you want. Try Monster.com for additional online job hunting.

Expect to be disappointed a time or two before you succeed.

A rejection is hard, but keep it in perspective. Employers sometimes have very definite requirements. If you don’t meet them, it isn’t a reflection on you as an individual. Learn from the rejections. Adjust the focus of your resume if it seems would-be hirers are reacting to a particular element in your outline. Honestly, of course. Don’t ever pad the resume or allow the impression that you have more capability than you do. On the other hand, let the employer know you are willing to learn if necessary.

Take care of yourself.

Just as you would if you were working rather than looking for work. Eat right. Get plenty of rest. Plan regular physical exercise to help you deal with stress and strong emotions concerning job hunting.

Focus on the positive.

Be sure to enlist the help of friends, family, former co-workers and even acquaintances who might be helpful in your search. The majority of job placements arise out of effective networking with people you know.

Holiday Hiring Creates Jobs

October 29, 2015 By Twila Van Leer

Now is the time to seek seasonal jobs for the holidays. — Now is the time to seek seasonal jobs.

Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are fast moving up to the top of the calendar, and that could be good news for people who hope to find a holiday job. The time to start is right now.

Search for “retail” in your local job search resources and you are likely to find a good supply of possible jobs. Online workshops and resume-building ideas are plentiful. Employers looking for holiday help have been gearing up already in anticipation of the busiest time of the year and you need to be in the front of the line as they actually hire.

The first step is to gather and organize the documents surrounding your work history. Transcripts, certificates, a brief history, awards, performance reviews, work samples and references should be included in a terse but complete portfolio. Be sure you have electronic copies for those who want the information via email.

Prospective employers will have many applications to look at before they chose those applicants they want to interview. They will likely choose those whose presentations are most attractive. Applications with smudges, missing information or illegible entries will almost certainly be the first to hit the wastebasket. Remember that the person going over your portfolio will be judging the quality of your work by what he sees.

Some prospective employers want you to fill in an application at the site and on the spot. Be ready to do that. Have a pen and be ready to ask for a phone book if you need one to fill in addresses, etc., for previous jobs.

Occasionally, a company will use holiday positions to make more long-term hires after the season ends. Don’t treat a holiday job with less respect than it deserves.

Being A Good Employee

September 7, 2015 By Twila Van Leer

Getting a job is only half the equation. Building a good working relationship with fellow employees and making an impression that will lead to better things in the future is critical.

Start with a positive attitude. That makes it easier for you and is likely to help you build good relationships with others. Try to look on the bright side, keep complaints to a minimum and stay motivated. Look for new learning opportunities and see them as improvement opportunities. Don’t take baggage from previous jobs to the new work site.

Be flexible. Companies change and you need to be willing to change along with the one that hires you. Embrace change and look for positives in changes. Adaptability is a significant plus in today’s job market.

Be a team player by understanding how your particular job fits into the overall organization. A know-it-all attitude can sink you fast. A sense of humor helps, as does building relationships with fellow-workers. Look for the upbeat and positive people in your immediate work area and don’t become known for negativity, gossip and back-biting.

Build a reputation for positive feedback. Please and thank you are still fundamental courtesies. Don’t fail to compliment a co-worker or recognize a nice bit of work, and especially keep a thank-you handy for anyone who contributes to your training and/or understanding of your job. Negotiation and collaboration are useful tactics that oil healthy working relationships.

Be professional. Being on time to the workplace lets the employer know you are serious about your job. Allow time for traffic, if that is a problem in your commute. If you are ill or otherwise unavoidably unable to get be at the workplace on time, let your boss know as far in advance of your work shift as possible.

At the outset, learn all the office rules and then obey them. Go through the employee manual. Be open to opportunities to learn new things. If you make a mistake, acknowledge it promptly and, if possible, volunteer to fix the problem. It may become a valuable learning experience.

Make yourself an accomplishment sheet and track your achievements, responsibilities and outcomes. Keep a record you can share in your next performance review. Make your bosses aware of any recognition you receive, including positive feedback from clients and/or customers.

Child care issues often get in the way of positive workplace habits. Make every effort to have good, reliable child care provisions so you don’t find yourself stumbling around just before a work shift trying to find a baby sitter.

Building a reputation for good workplace habits will go farther toward keeping you employed in a volatile job market than anything else you can do.

Millennials Confident For Future

July 22, 2015 By Twila Van Leer

That group of Americans who became young adults just as the new century arrived – collectively known as Millennials in the current vernacular – are probably more job-savvy than their older peers and more optimistic about their role in the nation’s economy.

By 2025, they’ll make up 75 percent of the nation’s workforce. They see the future through rose-colored glasses and have confidence in their ability to find the job they want. They put a high premium on rapid advancement in their chosen field and they want to be well-paid for what they do. The necessity to repay student loans is impetus for some of their expectations.

Looking at their high degree of confidence, some of the economic experts are scratching their heads. The millennials came of working age right at the peak of the worse economic downturn in the country since the Great Depression. Perhaps, they reason, this generation came to the job market with more expectations that things could only get better after several years of recession.

The current job market seems to bear out their optimism. The recovery has been slow and spotty, but nationally, applications for jobless aid have fallen to a 15-year low, one of a number of indicators that suggest the United States is back on track.

The number of new jobs being offered is another sign that the Millennials will be able to keep themselves busy over the predictable future. In May, some 280,000 new job opportunities were posted by American employers.

The more robust economy has sent more shoppers into the stores. Spending for the month of May was up, an indication that workers are not so leery of what will happen next. Cheaper gas prices also added momentum to spending on other things.

Current trends seem to support the Millennial view that life will be good for those who will be the employment majority for the foreseeable future.

Top Ten Highest Paid Female CEOs

June 26, 2015 By Twila Van Leer

Women still are greatly outnumbered by males in the top ranks of money-earners in the United States, but they are outpacing their male counterparts in the increases they see year to year, according to the annual review by Equilar and The Associated Press.

From 2013 to 2014, the females noted a 21 percent increase, with the median pay at $15.9 million, the study showed. That compares with a median annual income of $10.4 million for males, a figure down by 0.8 percent from the previous year. Only 17 of the 340 executives included in the survey were women.

No. 1: Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo – Top of the stack among the female execs is Marissa Mayer, CEO for Yahoo, whose income for the study period was $42.1 million. That was a whopping 69 percent. Hired in 2012 with hopes of revitalizing the aging Yahoo, Mayer’s leadership helped Yahoo become competitive again, in technology. Yahoo’s earnings jumped as a result of spinning off part of it’s share of Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce site.

No. 2: Carol Meyrowitz, TJX Companies. Next highest on the list was Carol Meyrowitz, head of discount retailer TJX Companies, whose income was listed at $23.2 million, a 13 percent increase over the previous year. She led the company to $2.22 billion in profits

No. 3: Margaret Whitman, CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Her annual income was reported at $19.6 million, an increase of 11 percent over the previous year. The H-P board voted to increase her pay package to make it comparable to those of peers at the company’s technology competitors, raising the base to $1.5 million.

No. 4: Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo. Her $19.1 million income for the year was a 45 percent hike over the year before. PepsiCo, which also markets Frito-Lay products, Gatorade sports drinks and Quaker oatmeal products, has upped its income through raising prices and lowering production costs under her leadership. At the same time, PepsiCo experienced challenges caused by currency volatility in Russia and Bolivia. The negative impact was offset by improved income through growth in sales of Frito-Lay products in North America.

No. 5: Phebe Novakovic, General Dynamics exec, whose $19 million earnings were up by just 1 percent. She was a senior executive at the company for more than a decade before stepping into the top spot in January 2013. Under her leadership, the defense contractor’s stock has doubled, with increased dividend payments and elevated stock buy-backs.

No. 6: Virginia Rometty, IBM head, saw a 28 percent increase to bring her annual earnings to $17.9 million. Her total included a $3.6 million bonus for performance, even though IBM’s sales and profits declined. In 2013, she and other top execs bypassed bonuses when the company’s bottom line dipped.

No. 7: Marilyn Hewson of Lockheed Martin also pocketed $17.9 million for the survey period, an increase of 13 percent. She has been with the defense company for 32 years and the second female chief executive in that sector to achieve top income status. Her income went up commensurate with increased earnings at Lockheed. The firm’s stock has risen some 30 percent under her guidance.

No. 8: Patricia Woertz, CEO for Archer Daniels Midland, a company that produces vegetable oil, ethanol and ingredients used in packaged foods and drink, saw her pay rise 138 percent, the largest jump among the female execs. Her total for the survey period was $16.3 million. Some of the increase, some $501,560 was for relocation when the company moved from Decatur, Ill., to Chicago.

No. 9: Irene Rosenfeld, Mondelez International CEO, saw a 14 percent increase to $15.9 million. The board of Mondelez International, makers of Oreo cookies, Cadbury chocolate products and Trident gums, authorized the increase, even though shares rose only 3 percent during the reporting time. The gain in the broader market was 11.4 percent.

No. 10: Ellen Kullman of Dupont actually lost 1 percent of income, leaving her with a total of $13.1 million. She was embroiled in an effort by activist investor Nelson Peltz, who attempted to gain more influence in the 212-year-old chemical company. Shareholders voted against Peltz, but company heads felt the conflict pointed out Dupont’s failure to educate shareholders adequately about a shift in emphasis. The company is moving away from traditional chemicals to become more involved in the production of agricultural products and advanced materials.

The top 10 highest-paid female CEOs