Posts
By ERIC FELTEN
It's raining pink slips. The newspapers are full of stories of people losing their jobs -- at least newspapers that haven't yet gone out of business themselves. Just last week we read about mass layoffs at Caterpillar and Boeing, not to mention various hospitals, charities and school districts around the country. Job fairs are mobbed. I passed a FedEx Office location last week that was advertising "Free Résumé Printing Day."
[Bookshelf]
All of which makes Martha I. Finney's "Rebound: A Proven Plan for Starting Over After Job Loss" a timely offering. A catalog of advice culled from career coaches, employment lawyers and social-networkers, the book is a guide as much for how to handle getting laid off as for how to find another job.
"Rebound" is timely in another way as well. The category killer in the get-a-job bookshelf -- "What Color Is Your Parachute?" -- could stand to be retired. First published 39 years and 10 million copies ago, the book keeps coming out in annual editions. But with its clumsy charts and checklists, its hokey visualization devices and hollow platitudes -- "Job-hunting is not a science; it is an art" -- it feels less like a book than the rummage of a community-college guidance counselor. And dusty rummage at that. You can get a sense of the vintage of "What Color Is Your Parachute?" from the fact that it is illustrated here and there with Ziggy cartoons. You can get a sense of its sloppiness from the fact that, in the 2009 edition of "Parachute," the same Ziggy cartoon runs on page 41 and page 167, without anyone at publisher Ten Speed Press seeming to notice. For that matter, the same Peanuts cartoon appears on page 129 and page 282.
By contrast, "Rebound" is uncluttered, cartoon-free, direct and mercifully brief. The first half of the book is devoted to the process of getting laid off -- with an emphasis on disciplined, dignified behavior and savvy self-protection. Throwing a tantrum is out. Not only can it get you an unwelcome reputation as a hothead, it could lose you what little you can hope to take away in benefits. Ms. Finney quotes employment lawyer Alan Sklover saying that "I've known circumstances where loud voices have been termed workplace violence. Then they have good reason to terminate you, without a severance package."
Read the rest of the article - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123776443317708869.html
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
How to Twitter - The social rules and tips for gaining 'followers'; why opinionated people win
When I first joined Twitter, I felt like I was in a noisy bar where everyone was shouting and nobody was listening.
Soon, I began to decode its many mysteries: how to find a flock of followers, how to talk to them in a medium that blasts to lots of people at once and how to be witty in very tiny doses.
Twitter is a mass text-messaging service that allows you to send short 140-character updates -- or "tweets" -- to a bunch of people at once. They are your "followers." It was designed to be read on a cellphone, though many people read it online, too.
Suddenly a lot of non-tweeters are starting to feel left out. On "The Daily Show" this week, host Jon Stewart reported on Twitter with a wink (or was it a twink?) at the narcissism of the personal broadcasting system. It has a world-wide audience of six million unique visitors a month, up from 1.2 million a year ago, according to ComScore Media Metrix.
But I have to admit I didn't understand the appeal of Twitter when I joined, at the prodding of friends, in November. One answer that explains its popularity: It's not about chatting with your friends -- it's about promoting yourself.
My name was available, so I set up a profile at twitter.com/JuliaAngwin. On Twitter, however, you do not exist without followers, who subscribe to receive your messages. So I set out to follow some people in the hope that they would follow me.
I had to learn the crucial distinction between a "follower" and a "friend." On Facebook, if I'm your friend, you're my friend, and we can read all about each other. Relationships on Twitter are not reciprocal: People you follow do not have to follow you or give you permission to follow them. You just sign up and start following them. It's a bit like stalking. Heather Gold, a comedian and Twitter devotee, points out that for all its flaws, the term follower "is more honest than friend."
At first, I was the loneliest of social creatures -- a leader without followers. I tried searching for my actual real-world friends using Twitter's "Find People" function, but it was down the day I joined. (Twitter is growing so fast that short outages are not unusual.)
Read The Full Article -
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123638550095558381.html
Soon, I began to decode its many mysteries: how to find a flock of followers, how to talk to them in a medium that blasts to lots of people at once and how to be witty in very tiny doses.
Twitter is a mass text-messaging service that allows you to send short 140-character updates -- or "tweets" -- to a bunch of people at once. They are your "followers." It was designed to be read on a cellphone, though many people read it online, too.
Suddenly a lot of non-tweeters are starting to feel left out. On "The Daily Show" this week, host Jon Stewart reported on Twitter with a wink (or was it a twink?) at the narcissism of the personal broadcasting system. It has a world-wide audience of six million unique visitors a month, up from 1.2 million a year ago, according to ComScore Media Metrix.
But I have to admit I didn't understand the appeal of Twitter when I joined, at the prodding of friends, in November. One answer that explains its popularity: It's not about chatting with your friends -- it's about promoting yourself.
My name was available, so I set up a profile at twitter.com/JuliaAngwin. On Twitter, however, you do not exist without followers, who subscribe to receive your messages. So I set out to follow some people in the hope that they would follow me.
I had to learn the crucial distinction between a "follower" and a "friend." On Facebook, if I'm your friend, you're my friend, and we can read all about each other. Relationships on Twitter are not reciprocal: People you follow do not have to follow you or give you permission to follow them. You just sign up and start following them. It's a bit like stalking. Heather Gold, a comedian and Twitter devotee, points out that for all its flaws, the term follower "is more honest than friend."
At first, I was the loneliest of social creatures -- a leader without followers. I tried searching for my actual real-world friends using Twitter's "Find People" function, but it was down the day I joined. (Twitter is growing so fast that short outages are not unusual.)
Read The Full Article -
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123638550095558381.html
Monday, March 16, 2009
Need to Find a Job? Stop Looking So Hard
Do you know anyone who tried for years to have a baby but couldn't? Then, after giving up, maybe after adopting, suddenly, surprisingly, got pregnant?
Or someone who was dying to be in a relationship? Dated all the time, but never met the right person. Then, after accepting he would be alone, started focusing on other things and, lo and behold, met someone and got married?
How about someone who lost her job? Maybe she spent the next year working on her resume, perusing job sites, devoting all her energy to getting work. All to no avail. Then, after deciding to stop looking so hard, out of the blue, came a great job offer?
What is that? A karmic journey? A miracle? Statistical aberration? Pure random chance? Perhaps it never really happens; perhaps we remember those stories precisely because they are so unusual?
Or, perhaps, it's a really great strategy.
Or someone who was dying to be in a relationship? Dated all the time, but never met the right person. Then, after accepting he would be alone, started focusing on other things and, lo and behold, met someone and got married?
How about someone who lost her job? Maybe she spent the next year working on her resume, perusing job sites, devoting all her energy to getting work. All to no avail. Then, after deciding to stop looking so hard, out of the blue, came a great job offer?
What is that? A karmic journey? A miracle? Statistical aberration? Pure random chance? Perhaps it never really happens; perhaps we remember those stories precisely because they are so unusual?
Or, perhaps, it's a really great strategy.
Read The Whole Article -
http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/bregman/2009/02/need-to-find-a-job-stop-lookin.html
Getting inventive in tough job market
By Geraldine Baum
Los Angeles Times
NEW YORK — Sitting in a bare cubicle the other morning with reading glasses perched halfway down her nose and typing on a laptop she had brought from home, Lois Draegin looked a bit like the extra adult wedged in at the kids' table at Thanksgiving.
This accomplished magazine editor lost her six-figure job at TV Guide last spring and is now, at 55, an unpaid intern at wowOwow.com, an interactive Web site with columns and stories that target accomplished women older than 40.
"The Women on the Web," or WOW, as the site is known, needed Draegin's magazine-world wisdom, and she needed their guidance through a maze of technology that was as baffling to her as hieroglyphics.
It wasn't until she was teamed with Randi Bernfeld at WOW that she understood the obsession with such terms as search-engine optimization (a method to increase traffic to a site) or used Google Trends to pick story topics and write a uniform-resource locater (an address on the Web).
"She's my mentor," Draegin said of 24-year-old Bernfeld.
"No, she's my mentor," Bernfeld replied.
Joni Evans, a former Simon & Schuster president who is chief executive of WOW, has recruited several other laid-off publishing workers as interns — her site's way of doing good in a bad economy.
"I think of this as a very WOW model — women helping women, bringing us all back to our true ethic of empowering each other," said Evans, who founded the site with columnist Peggy Noonan, "60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl, advertising executive Mary Wells and gossip columnist Liz Smith.
Draegin took the internship at WOW as a creative way to fill out her résumé while waiting out a collision of bad events stalling her career. Other laid-off workers are attempting to be inventive by using such newer social-networking techniques as LinkedIn and Twitter to find jobs.
Los Angeles Times
NEW YORK — Sitting in a bare cubicle the other morning with reading glasses perched halfway down her nose and typing on a laptop she had brought from home, Lois Draegin looked a bit like the extra adult wedged in at the kids' table at Thanksgiving.
This accomplished magazine editor lost her six-figure job at TV Guide last spring and is now, at 55, an unpaid intern at wowOwow.com, an interactive Web site with columns and stories that target accomplished women older than 40.
"The Women on the Web," or WOW, as the site is known, needed Draegin's magazine-world wisdom, and she needed their guidance through a maze of technology that was as baffling to her as hieroglyphics.
It wasn't until she was teamed with Randi Bernfeld at WOW that she understood the obsession with such terms as search-engine optimization (a method to increase traffic to a site) or used Google Trends to pick story topics and write a uniform-resource locater (an address on the Web).
"She's my mentor," Draegin said of 24-year-old Bernfeld.
"No, she's my mentor," Bernfeld replied.
Joni Evans, a former Simon & Schuster president who is chief executive of WOW, has recruited several other laid-off publishing workers as interns — her site's way of doing good in a bad economy.
"I think of this as a very WOW model — women helping women, bringing us all back to our true ethic of empowering each other," said Evans, who founded the site with columnist Peggy Noonan, "60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl, advertising executive Mary Wells and gossip columnist Liz Smith.
Draegin took the internship at WOW as a creative way to fill out her résumé while waiting out a collision of bad events stalling her career. Other laid-off workers are attempting to be inventive by using such newer social-networking techniques as LinkedIn and Twitter to find jobs.
Read The Whole Article - http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008861143_seniorintern15.html
Charisma - and 10 tips to getting it!
Do you have charisma?
Charismatic people are highly respected by others around them and they project personal power wherever they go.
What is charisma? According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, it is 1: a personal magic of leadership arousing special popularloyalty or enthusiasm for a public figure (as a political leader) or 2: a special magnetic charm or appeal
Most people think of charisma as a natural gift. However, it is possible to attain these qualities through perseverance.
If you think you may be lacking in the charisma department, try these Top 10 Tips for developing some!
1. Have boundless energy
Charismatic people keep themselves in great shape and exude exceptional energy when entering a room.
2. Have goals
Charismatic people have goals. They have a clear vision and specific goals to achieve that vision. They plan their work and work their plan.
They focus on what they want to achieve. They work every day to make their goals a reality.
3. Make it all about them
Charismatic people make the experience all about those they are interacting with. By showing an active interest in others, the charismatic individual can generate a tremendous amount of goodwill.
4. Develop self-confidence
Charismatic people have an intense belief in themselves. They have an unshakeable belief in their ability to rise above circumstances. They let their dreams give them the power to face fear and uncertainty.
5. Develop crisp, compelling communication
The power to listen, anticipate and articulate are the gifts of charismatic people. They tend to keep communications short, sharp and sweet, and paint powerful pictures…they set the scene, chart the territory and highlight the action needed.
Charismatic people are highly respected by others around them and they project personal power wherever they go.
What is charisma? According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, it is 1: a personal magic of leadership arousing special popularloyalty or enthusiasm for a public figure (as a political leader) or 2: a special magnetic charm or appeal
Most people think of charisma as a natural gift. However, it is possible to attain these qualities through perseverance.
If you think you may be lacking in the charisma department, try these Top 10 Tips for developing some!
1. Have boundless energy
Charismatic people keep themselves in great shape and exude exceptional energy when entering a room.
2. Have goals
Charismatic people have goals. They have a clear vision and specific goals to achieve that vision. They plan their work and work their plan.
They focus on what they want to achieve. They work every day to make their goals a reality.
3. Make it all about them
Charismatic people make the experience all about those they are interacting with. By showing an active interest in others, the charismatic individual can generate a tremendous amount of goodwill.
4. Develop self-confidence
Charismatic people have an intense belief in themselves. They have an unshakeable belief in their ability to rise above circumstances. They let their dreams give them the power to face fear and uncertainty.
5. Develop crisp, compelling communication
The power to listen, anticipate and articulate are the gifts of charismatic people. They tend to keep communications short, sharp and sweet, and paint powerful pictures…they set the scene, chart the territory and highlight the action needed.
Read 5-10
http://www.recruiter.co.uk/charisma-and-10-tips-to-getting-it!/1000860.article
A career in retail can provide graduates one of the highest earning careers by the age of 25
Career choice is the key driver behind graduates wanting to enter retail, retail recruiters say.
A recent survey from supermarket Tesco shows that a career in retail can provide graduates one of the highest earning careers by the age of 25. A graduate at Tesco will have the potential to earn a total of £140,000 – excluding all benefits and bonuses - by the age of 25 and only management consultancy currently can offer a higher total earning potential by that age (£155,000).
But Russell Crowe, managing director at Retail Kudos, says it is not so much earnings but the variety of careers on offer that attract and keep graduates in the industry.
“There is a varied career path at the various retailers, whether that be operational in-store or the many different head office functions. It offers a breadth of experience to work across a different function.
“There is marketing, buying, logistics - whatever takes your fancy. It stops you being pigeon-holed.
“It keeps it interesting for the individual which is why they tend to stay there. Once they are in it, they tend to stay in it for life.”
Candace Rose, managing director at Tortrix Recruitment, adds: “While graduates are studying, they work the number of hours which don’t infringe upon their studies. We find retail is a good option and a lot of these people have got retail positions and hence they have got a lot of contacts in retail.
“Clients may have only have been employing them in a part time position but then have offered them an alternative position the moment they have graduated either at head office or higher manager level.”
A recent survey from supermarket Tesco shows that a career in retail can provide graduates one of the highest earning careers by the age of 25. A graduate at Tesco will have the potential to earn a total of £140,000 – excluding all benefits and bonuses - by the age of 25 and only management consultancy currently can offer a higher total earning potential by that age (£155,000).
But Russell Crowe, managing director at Retail Kudos, says it is not so much earnings but the variety of careers on offer that attract and keep graduates in the industry.
“There is a varied career path at the various retailers, whether that be operational in-store or the many different head office functions. It offers a breadth of experience to work across a different function.
“There is marketing, buying, logistics - whatever takes your fancy. It stops you being pigeon-holed.
“It keeps it interesting for the individual which is why they tend to stay there. Once they are in it, they tend to stay in it for life.”
Candace Rose, managing director at Tortrix Recruitment, adds: “While graduates are studying, they work the number of hours which don’t infringe upon their studies. We find retail is a good option and a lot of these people have got retail positions and hence they have got a lot of contacts in retail.
“Clients may have only have been employing them in a part time position but then have offered them an alternative position the moment they have graduated either at head office or higher manager level.”
Original Article -
http://www.recruiter.co.uk/retail-graduates-attracted-by-career-variety/1000847.article
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