Rabu, 11 Agustus 2010

Are Women More Recession-Proof Than Men?

by Kristina Cowan, PayScale.com


Rising unemployment is enough to make any worker nervous. In March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported the U.S. unemployment rate had climbed from 8.1% to 8.5%. A closer look at the numbers reveals another cause for concern, especially among men: February unemployment for men 25 and older was 8.8%; for women it was 7.0% (seasonally adjusted) -- the widest gap since 1948, when the BLS started gathering the data.

According to the BLS, as of January 2009, women accounted for 49.5 percent of the workforce.

Steve Hipple, an economist at the BLS, says men account for about four out of every five people who lose jobs. Hipple explains further, "During recessions, men are much more likely to lose their jobs because they are concentrated in industries such as construction and manufacturing that are hit particularly hard as the economy slows."

Different Approaches to Work

Some news reports and experts say this gap is partly caused by women's penchant for picking recession-proof careers, such as those in education and health care. Others, however, say there's no truly recession-proof industry, and that women's flexible approach to work enables them to better weather fiscal storms -- no matter what their career paths.

Laurence Shatkin, a career information expert and author of "150 Best Recession-Proof Jobs," says his research shows that women tend to be concentrated in jobs that involve helping others, including education and health care. "Many of these needs for help don't go away in a recession, and many of them involve onsite and even hands-on work, so they can't be off-shored," Shatkin explains.

J.T. O'Donnell, a New Hampshire-based career strategist and founder of Careerealism.com, points to two other possible reasons for the difference: women are more likely to have flexible attitudes about work and more likely to emphasize building relationships. For example, women's emotional intelligence and understanding about the needs of employees and customers is a critical asset for companies.

"We are becoming a culture where the only way your company can survive is to connect with your customers in the down time. A customer may not be able to buy today, but the understanding and appreciation and ability to still connect with [a customer] in spite of the fact they can't buy [something] -- that's what they'll remember when the economy turns," she says. Women can often make that connection very easily, according to O'Donnell.

Solid Career Picks for Recessionary Times

If you're looking for work that can withstand a tough recession, here's a short list* of jobs to consider where women currently hold the majority of positions:

Job title -- Percentage of women -- Median salary
Physician assistants -- 62% -- $79,300
Registered nurses -- 90% -- $55,500
Reference librarians -- 71% -- $43,700
Curators -- 70% -- $42,300
Middle-school teachers -- 67% -- $41,700

Is Any Job Guaranteed for Men or Women?

While some fields are more resistant than others to fiscal upheaval, experts say no job or career path is entirely safe -- for men or women. Instead, it's best to focus on skills and strengths that will help insulate you no matter what field you pursue, they say.

"You need to have a key understanding of your top strengths. What are the things that are strongest and innate in you? Then focus on general job types that leverage those. So you go into a job and knock it out of the park every time, which makes you employable," O'Donnell explains.

*Job titles, percentages of women and median salary figures (5-9 years experience) are from PayScale.com. The job titles were suggested as recession-proof picks by Laurence Shatkin.


Job Info , Jobs Sources , Career Opportunity

Bookmark and Share

How to Answer the Trickiest Job-Interview Questions

by Liz Ryan


Nearly everyone has been there. The job interview is sailing along, when all of a sudden, the interviewer asks you the question you've been hoping she wouldn't--for instance, "Why did you leave your last job?"

You pause to reflect: Do I say that my boss was psycho and that if I didn't quit I might have punched his lights out? Or do I make up a story on the spot, or take a sip of my coffee while I think of something intelligent? You don't want to end up reacting in the moment. On-the-spot improvisation is a great skill, but it's a high-risk endeavor when your next great job is at stake.

Here are some handy answers to potentially sticky job-interview questions. You might want to memorize a few of these!

How not to say, "My last job was in hell."
You hated your old job or you hated your boss (or both) to the point where you hated yourself for staying. Now you've left the place, either on your own or after being invited to take a hike, and as you meet prospective employers, you're finding that you've got some 'splainin' to do.

The question: "Why did you leave Acme Dynamite?"

The answer: "Oh, I learned a ton in that place, but I didn't see more challenges on the horizon there, and I knew I wanted to get into [whatever this job entails]. I didn't want to job hunt while I was working, so I've been pursuing my job search full-time--and having tremendous fun doing it."

But what if you were fired?
If you left your last job on your own, that's one thing. But what if you were, as HR people say, "invited to leave"? You know that saying "Well, they fired me" is a non-starter. The interview won't last very long once those words leave your mouth. Here are some alternatives:

"I had some great experiences at Acme Dynamite, but at that point there was a management change [the scope of my job was reduced / the department was reorganized], and my manager and I agreed that we'd reached a good juncture for us to part ways."

"Pitstop Productions was switching from an in-house sales force to an outsourced one, and there was nothing especially important for me to do there, so we agreed that I should move on."

How to explain an employment gap
Just when the interview is rolling along, the recruiter's eyes fall on that pesky employment gap of yours. You've got to account for your time, but how? Lots of us have jumped off the conveyor belt for a while, and may not have much to show for it.
The question: "Now, what were you doing between 2003 and 2005?"

The answer: "That's when Toontown Productions had just been sold, and I'd made some good investments and wanted to explore [origami], so I took a break from the corporate world to recharge and get clearer about my goals. That was a fantastic learning experience--I'd recommend a mid-career sabbatical to anyone--and it helped me decide what I'm passionate about at work. When I went to Pitstop Productions in '06, I had a wonderful, fresh perspective."

How to justify a short-term job
Who hasn't at some point taken a job only to quickly learn that doing so was a terrible mistake? If you can wake up to the horror quickly enough to bail within a month or two, you'll leave the short-term gig off your resume entirely. But if it takes longer for the terrible reality to sink in, you may have six or nine months of a going-nowhere job to account for.

The question: "Now, what was the story here at Rabbit Enterprises? You didn't stay there very long."

The answer: "They were looking for someone to [train fleas], and that's a specialty of mine. I got in there and put the program together, but the job was not so much a job as a consulting assignment. After the initial launch, the role was going to be strictly maintenance, so I made the move over to Roadrunner Inc."

Evaluate your resumes for quirks, and you can anticipate the trickiest questions an interviewer might throw at you--and you can prepare your answers well ahead of the big day. Get comfortable with your responses, stay in your power, and knock 'em dead!

Liz Ryan is a 25-year HR veteran, a former Fortune 500 VP, and an internationally recognized expert on careers and the new-millennium workplace. Connect with her at www.asklizryan.com. (The opinions expressed in this column are solely the author's.)


Job Info , Jobs Sources , Career Opportunity

Bookmark and Share

Salary Secrets Your Employer Doesn't Want You to Know

by Maria Hanson, LiveCareer


In down economic times, companies seem to have carte blanche to limit salaries and make low-ball offers. But that shouldn't be the case.

Below are the top salary secrets your employer doesn't want you to know. With this information in hand, you'll be in a better position to get the pay you deserve.

Employers don't always offer a fair salary.

Some employers think they're being fair, but they're not up-to-date with the latest salary information. Others may try to pay less than the market value because they're financially strapped. That's why it's important that you know exactly how much money you should be making. A free salary report can help you calculate how much you should be earning in any job.

You can negotiate your salary in a tight job market.

In a recession, many people would rather take a pay cut than lose their jobs. Raises are hard to come by and new hires may feel they have less negotiating power. But that doesn't mean it's impossible to bump up your salary; it's just a little more challenging.

According to a recent survey from the Society for Human Resource Management, 80 percent of HR professionals say employers are willing to negotiate salaries. So, if you're looking for a raise at your current job, come armed with your marketplace worth and make your case. And, if you've been offered a job that pays less than you like, don't be afraid to name your realistic asking price. Keep in mind that, if you got the offer, you're clearly the best candidate for the job -- even in this highly competitive job market.

New hires sometimes earn more than long-term employees.

When there's a strong job market, organizations need to do whatever they can to attract top candidates. This often means that starting salaries may be higher for newbies than they are for long-term employees. Given the current economic conditions, that's less the norm these days, but it still happens in certain industries. If you suspect that a new hire with similar responsibilities is making more than you are, use current salary data to approach your manager with the request to bring your salary up to par.

Your performance doesn't decide your pay.

While your performance is one important factor in the salary equation, your pay is also a reflection of many other factors, including:

  • The job market -- lower pay is more acceptable in tighter job markets.
  • Location -- generally the higher the cost of living, the higher your salary.
  • Years of service -- in many cases, the longer you've been with a company, the higher your pay.
  • Organization size -- large organizations tend to pay more than small ones.
  • Education level -- in most cases, the more education you have, the higher your pay. Take a free education test to find out how going back to school can help you earn more.

If you're a valued employee who isn't making the money you deserve, you do have options. Know your value and make your case with the help of your free salary report. And know too, that many employers -- particularly larger employers -- have a little more in the "raise kitty" than they let on.



Job Info , Jobs Sources , Career Opportunity

Bookmark and Share

Work Smarter, Not Harder--Here's How

by Stever Robbins

Despite technology's promise that someday we'll work less, we're working more and taking fewer holidays than ever before. Unless you're reading this in France. Then, according to The Economist magazine, you win, because you work less than 40 hours a week and take lots of vacations. The rest of us work hard but, well, stupidly. That's because we work hard at dumb stuff, instead of working smart at the right stuff.

To get the same results quicker, change how you work. Work faster, be more focused, and organize so you can make progress on multiple things at once. (But not by multitasking! Multitasking slows you down.) Happiness happens when productivity enables a higher-quality life, not frantic overachievement.

Work faster. Our first key to working smart is working fast. You'll have to get into The Zone, bringing your full focus to one task. Then you build momentum until you're totally cranking.

The Zone hates distractions: email, telephone, visitors, and your self-generated distractions. I know a CEO who blocks out four hours a day for focus time. With a closed door, email turned off, and his phone forwarded to voicemail, he actually gets stuff done. He rarely works all four hours, but blocking out the time guarantees one or two solid hours. Without distractions, he can do big-picture thinking instead of being sucked into details.

Increase focus. If you're like me, you hardly ever procrastinate--except for the really important stuff. The rubber bands get dutifully sorted by size, but that client proposal? Not so much. Another way to work smarter is to know that being busy isn't the same thing as being productive. When we're busy, we feel productive, but being productive happens only if we're producing the results that move our projects forward.

Email is a great way to waste time while feeling productive. If you spend an hour a day on email, that's 12.5 percent of your time. Unless that 12.5 percent of your time is producing at least 12.5 percent of your results, it's a low-value-added activity.

The same applies everywhere. The 80/20 rule says 80 percent of your output comes from just 20 percent of your efforts. So what? Well, do the math. If you double the time you spend on real-output-producing activities and stop doing the others, you'll double your output and spend 60 percent less time! If you started with a ten-hour workday, you'll get twice as much done in just four hours.

Say no. My favorite 80/20 principle is saying no. Most of us take on more than we can handle. Then our companies lay off 30 percent of the workforce and expect the same output from the survivors. Our overwork gets compounded by dumb high-level decision making.

If you're working at capacity and someone asks you to take on a new project, say no. If someone proposes a project that will fall in the 80-percent-work-for-20-percent-results category, just say no. Face facts, my friend: There's a limit to how much you can do. You can manage that limit and do things well, or you can ignore the limit and do a lousy job on everything. The choice is yours.

Work in parallel, but don't multitask. Multitasking is doing many things at once. Bad idea. But arranging work so many things are happening at once? Good idea. If you and a colleague are writing a report and a marketing plan, you could first write the plan and then the report. But look closely! Your colleague must review the report. So draft the report and send it to your colleague. While she's reviewing, start on the marketing plan. Both move forward at the same time.

We all work this way to some degree, but a little thought can help you find golden opportunities for parallelism. Delegation, for example. When you delegate something, it keeps moving while you're working on something else.

Another chance for parallelism is when something is being produced or shipped. The product is en route to your customer? That means more time for you to do other things. But if you putter around with low-priority tasks until you ship last minute, you lose the chance to work in parallel.

Think. Working faster, identifying your 80/20 opportunities, and finding the chance to work in parallel all take thought. So your highest-leverage activity is taking regular time to reexamine how you work. Try spending half of a day every two weeks to build a life and business that are productive. By productive, I mean happiness-producing for you, your family, and your friends. You'll be happier, you'll get more done, and you'll have a life. And that's what I call working smart.

Please send your questions about how to work less, do more, and survive in the modern work world to the Get-It-Done Guy at hotjobs-questions@steverrobbins.com.

Stever Robbins is the host of the top-10 iTunes business podcast The Get-It-Done Guy's Quick and Dirty Tips to Work Less and Do More. He is also a cofounder or an early team member of 10 startups, an adjunct lecturer at Babson College, and an entrepreneurial coach. Find him at www.SteverRobbins.com.

(The opinions expressed in this column are solely the author's.)



Job Info , Jobs Sources , Career Opportunity

Bookmark and Share

The Savvy Networker

Handling the Dreaded "Tell Me About Yourself" Question
by Liz Ryan


Most of us don't like to rattle on about ourselves, so the job-interview question "Tell me about yourself" can easily throw us for a loop. Where do we start? Do we talk about growing up in Kansas, or jump into our career as a cost accountant? We're paralyzed, wondering, "What does the interviewer want to hear?"

Our instinct to wonder what the interviewer will find relevant is a good one. The big mistake job seekers make when asked "Tell me about yourself!" is that they launch into a rambling story. The interviewer leans back in his chair, and here's what he's thinking: "If I can get outta this interview in 55 minutes, I can still get to the dry cleaner before it closes...."

We begin to lose the interviewer the minute we start talking about ourselves. As we tell our story, no matter how gripping it is, the interviewer isn't learning in any substantive way whether or not we can do the job. The only way we'll be able to get close to the mark (what the employer needs in its next cost accountant or office manager, that is) is to ask a question. But we've been asked a question ourselves. Can we turn that question around?

We can! Here are three ways to shift the "Tell me about yourself" request into a question that will let us dig into the employer's business pain--the reason the job opening exists in the first place.

Let's imagine that the interviewer says, "So, Justin, tell me about yourself."

You'll say something like one of these three things:

1. "Okay! I don't want to keep you here for hours, though. Could I ask you a question or two in order to tailor my remarks?"

2. "For sure. I'm an office manager, as you know. I'm very focused on desktop publishing and newsletter creation, and I love to manage projects and my boss's schedule. Shall we talk about day-to-day office management, or shall I tell you about some projects I've run?"

3. "Perfect. I was born in Minnesota and went to school there, before moving to this area three years ago--and now, to make my story more relevant, may I ask you a couple of questions about the situation here at XYZ Foods?"

Your trusty gut already knows that any way you respond to the command "Tell me about yourself" runs the risk of being 100 percent irrelevant to the interviewer. We can use our interview "air time" to learn more about the position and to discover where the interviewer's interests lie. Then we can talk about something that our conversational partner will care about! That's a much more satisfying feeling, believe me!

(Get more tips in Liz Ryan's "How to Answer the Trickiest Job-Interview Questions.")

Liz Ryan is a 25-year HR veteran, a former Fortune 500 VP, and an internationally recognized expert on careers and the new-millennium workplace. Connect with her at www.asklizryan.com. The opinions expressed in this column are the author's.)


Jobs Sources

Bookmark and Share

Staying on Track to Get Your Bonus

by Margaret Steen, for Yahoo! HotJobs


Bonus time has come and gone, and yours wasn't as large as you were hoping (if you even got one). Where did you go wrong -- and what can you do now to make sure that next year you get a healthy bonus check?

You first need to make sure you understand how your bonus was determined. Often, individual bonuses are based on a combination of the company's performance and the individual's performance.

What Goes Into a Bonus

The company performance part of the calculation "isn't usually all or nothing," says Laurie Bienstock, practice leader for strategic rewards at Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a human resources consulting firm. Generally, the company has to meet a certain financial threshold before it will pay any bonuses at all. After that, it scales up to 100 percent of the planned bonus money -- or even more, if the company does exceptionally well.

At many companies, individual performance also comes into play at bonus time. Sometimes individuals' bonuses are tied to the overall rating they receive in their performance evaluation; other times, they're based on whether the worker accomplished a specific list of goals.

Keep Your Boss in the Loop

When it comes to bonuses, communication with your boss becomes critical.

"If the bonus is directly tied to your performance rating, make sure you understand what you need to do to either meet or exceed expectations," Bienstock says.

If the bonus is based on a list of goals, then you need to be certain you understand from your boss what those goals are -- and how success will be measured.

"When you have that conversation with your boss and you walk away and you think this is what you're supposed to do, write it down and send it to your boss and say, 'This is what I heard, is this correct?'" says Jan Schmuckler, an organizational psychologist.

Measures Throughout the Year

It's equally important to keep talking with your boss during the year about how you're progressing so there are no surprises when you open your bonus check.

One of the most confusing parts of performance-based bonuses is what happens when you can't meet one of your goals due to circumstances beyond your control. Perhaps a project is canceled or delayed; maybe you move to a new job with new responsibilities. It's very important to talk to your boss when this happens. Can you replace some of your old goals with new ones? Don't make assumptions about how your boss will handle it -- and don't wait until the end of the year.

Not a Solo Performance

You may find it frustrating to have part of your pay tied to your performance evaluation or to how well the company does. But this is the way of the future. A recent survey of employers by Watson Wyatt found that 22 percent of U.S. companies had increased the amount employees could receive in bonuses, and 10 percent had made performance-based pay available to more workers.

"Companies are also raising the bar on how hard it is to achieve those," Bienstock says. Almost half increased the company's financial goals that are tied to paying bonuses, and more than one-third increased individual performance expectations.

Jobs Sources , Career Opportunity

Bookmark and Share