My Campus Chronicles
Our college blog dedicated to helping students prepare for life outside of college.
July 2007 archive
We've just posted a new podcast by Spherion CEO Roy Krause about the hot topic of re-careering.
He and I have seen and read about the trend of mid-career workers who are either dissatisfied with their current prospects or simply decide they want to pursue a passion and make a major change.
While many of us have probably pondered the idea of leaving the corporate world to become a photographer, interior decorator or dive instructor in Bimini, it's not necessarily an easy thing to do.
Roy explores the challenges of making a major career change and provides advice about how to effectively position yourself and explain your change to employers.
For a list of recent podcasts, please visit our pressroom.
We recently discovered an online job board and career center specifically targeting workers who are 50 and over. Adage is an Australian-based organization that offers services to candidates with all skills sets from executive to blue collar positions. Adage also has a blog chock full of useful information for mature workers.
Niche sites such as these can be incredibly helpful for candidates because they address workplace questions, issues and concerns that fellow peers have experienced. Take for example, Gen Plus, another blog that addresses more than work and lifestyle issues for those who are 50 and older. Gen Plus, written by the Company's founder, has a mission to bring meaning, esteem and useful information to the mature populations of the United States and Canada.
Also, in your quest for career advice, don't forget to check the Big Time for blog posts regarding this topic. Spherion's very own Carleen MacKay, one of a very few experts in the United States whose career life is specialized in the 50+ workforce, is always offering insight into the world of the mature workforce.
More good news about our jobs in this week's Friday Figures. Not only are we feeling unable to balance our work and personal lives, but recent data shows that many of us don't even have the resources at work to get our jobs done. Hmmm, I wonder if there is some connection?
Our data shows us that only 56% of workers say their team has the adequate resources to get their jobs done. It's clear that employers are placing greater demands on their employees these days, but it's also quite clear that they're not adding enough staff or resources to keep up with those demands.
If you look at the government's job numbers from the past few years, you don't see the same rapid growth in new jobs that we saw in past economic recoveries. So, that means you and I are left to pick up the pieces and deal with the extra work.
What do we do? For starters, we've got to put our foot down and set expectations with our managers. We can't just continue to take on a lot of additional work without voicing our concern, extending deadlines, etc. If we don't speak up, then all we'll face is an even greater overload of work and less time tending to our personal lives.
On that note, enjoy your time off this weekend...
According to a Spherion survey, 51% of workers say their personal values are in agreement with their employer's corporate values. How much do reputation and corporate values influence your decision to work for a company?
On the heals of the extremely successful Live Earth concert, there's no question the topic of global warming and the environment in general is top of mind for us all. Everyday, more and more research and insight into the issue of global warming hits the airwaves. Regardless of how passionate you are about this topic, I think we can all agree that keeping our environment healthy is a smart move.
Recently, Time Magazine's blog "Work in Progress" posted information from a Harris Interactive survey about American's leaving their computers on at work, resulting in wasted energy usage, and according to the survey, pumping 14.4 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Workers have an opportunity to help curb some practices that may be damaging to the environment. In fact, some companies are now raising the temperature of their air conditioning, and no longer purchasing plastic bottles of water, for example.
I thought of a few areas that workers can help out the cause, such as decreasing the amount of paper that is used by refraining from printing useless or unnecessary materials. Energy can be saved by everyone turning off their office lights at the end of the day, and to ask for recycle bins for aluminum or newspapers in the office.
I am interested in knowing if others work for companies for environmentally friendly policies. What are they, and do you have any suggestions for how to start a conservation program?
Without question, one of today's most popular work/life balance benefits is telecommuting or working from home. In fact, our latest Emerging Workforce Study finds that 16% of respondents are currently telecommuting from home one or more days a week.
For those of you who fall into this category, there is a new and incredibly helpful section of CNN's Web site that focuses solely on the subject of telecommuting. It offers tips and "how to's" on everything you can imagine about telecommuting, from setting up your home office to income tax benefits on home office equipment. They also offer up their two cents about the motivations behind telecommuting, such as saving money on gas and spending more time with the family.
We too have explored this subject here on the Big Time. For those of you who may have small children at home, check out our post for tips specific to that situation.
I confess. I took a much needed break from work last week and skipped my Friday Figures post. I figured that most of you were probably doing the same.
This week's factoid is about workers' confidence in leaving the traditional work structure. We're seeing a growing number of workers saying that they feel comfortable with leaving the corporate lifeline and going out and becoming a free agent, contractor or small business owner. In fact, 62% of us say we have confidence in making the leap, which is up more than 10 percentage points from 2005.
That's a pretty high number if you ask me. I am sure we've all thought or even dreamed about working for ourselves in some capacity and walking away from the rat race. But the fact that a growing majority of us are confident and willing to make the change is quite interesting.
The real question is how many people will act on those intentions. And while the number is growing, it's not significant - yet. So what makes you want to leave the corporate world? What prevents you?
How many times have you read articles or research that characterizes Generation Y, or millennial workers, as disloyal, difficult to work with and in need of constant praise to feel rewarded for a job well done? My guess is a lot. But I wonder if this is a sign that workers' attitudes have changed, or is it time for employers to change their employee policies to address this shift in worker attitudes?
An article featured on Yahoo! Finance discusses Gen Y as employees and seeks to debunk what it believes are myths about the millennial worker. The article is music to our ears here at Spherion because since 1997, we've been predicting and tracking this shift in workforce attitudes through our Emerging Workforce Study.
Emerging workers, as defined by Spherion's research, are employees who possess certain qualities and traits that differ from past worker attitudes. For example, Emerging workers believe loyalty is defined by one's contribution to their employer and not tenure, and they want employers to reward them based on their performance. Sound familiar?
Our research shows that Gen Y workers are now the largest pool of candidates who possess these emerging traits and values, and they are looking for employers whose workplace policies mirror those emergent characteristics. The workforce is vastly shifting in this direction. Even migrating workers - employees who possess characteristics of both emergent and traditional workers - prefer companies with emerging traits.
The bottom line is that employers will need to shift their attitudes, perceptions and policies to attract and retain this breed of worker. If companies choose to ignore growing disconnects between what workers are asking them for and what they are actually providing them, they won't fair well in the ongoing war for talent.
So what type of employee are you? Do you fall in line with the millennial and emerging workers, or are you more comfortable with a traditional employer and/or environment? If you're not sure, be on a look out for Spherion's newest Emerging Workforce Study due out this year. Interactive tools and quizzes will be available to help you determine where you fit in, as well as career guides to help you find the right employer to match your workplace values.
An interesting new book, titled "Cinema For Managers," explores the possibility that movies can be an effective way to teach business professionals about values such as teamwork and problem-solving. Some may laugh, but if you think about it, the situations you see in movies, and in TV shows for that matter, do offer insight into the right and wrong ways of conducting yourself at work.
The book has received quite a bit of publicity in major media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal and Guardian Unlimited, listing some of the 50 movie titles that are highlighted. Some of the films suggested are The Terminal, starring Tom Hanks (strategy and entrepreneurship), and the Hollywood classic, Murder on the Orient Express (teamwork).
As a movie buff, there are a few films that immediately popped into my mind that despite failing to make the book, do offer great lessons for the business world. For example, Office Space seemed an obvious choice. It provides a hilarious look at many aspect of the working world, including how NOT to promote your people skills - as evidenced by this YouTube video reminder. What movies do you think are missing from the list? What films, if any, have helped shape your success in the workplace?
Q: How do you handle questions with prospective employers who ask you what were you making at your last employer? I feel that because of my annual salary with previous employer hinders other employers from considering me, even if i have the experience.
- Comment posted by M.B.
A: Dear M.B.,
You've hit on a topic that is somewhat controversial and that ultimately will need to be a personal decision as to where you stand on the issue. Here's why. When it comes to asking for salary requirements, this is a common and acceptable practice. How else is your potential employer to know if your salary needs/desires are within what they are willing to pay for the position? The problem is when an employer asks a candidate for salary history - particularly in cases like yours where your previous salaries may hinder even being considered for a job.
For many years disclosing salary history was considered unacceptable because this was confidential information. However, many employers today do ask for this information and may even consider it a requirement to even apply.
So, first you need to decide if you are willing to reveal your salary history to potential employers. If not, you'll just need to focus on positions with organizations that don't have this as a requirement. If, on the other hand, you have accepted this as a necessary evil, here are a few tips to keep in mind.
- Don't disclose it unless or until you've been asked to do so.
- Don't lie about it. Be accurate about your previous salaries because some companies will verify or request this information from your previous employers. If you're caught in a lie, it can obviously result in not getting the job or being fired if you've taken the job under false pretences.
- Prepare for the Negotiation. Remember, you will need to demonstrate effectively and persuasively why the salary you are asking for is appropriate for your talent level and value. Therefore, do some research:
- Review average salaries for your level of experience, education, etc. Use sites like www.salary.com to research salaries for the type of industry your potential employer is in, and geography.
- Take into consideration the demand and supply for your type of skill. For example, if you have a specialized skill in short supply, you can ask for a higher salary. On the flip side, if there are a lot of people with the same skills as you, you can expect salaries to be lower.
Salary negotiation is always one of the hardest parts of job searching. But, if you are well prepared, it will make the process a smoother and more successful one.
Happy Birthday America! Did you know on the 4th of July in 1776, an estimated 2.5 million people lived in the USA? Today, 302 million people are crowded into our slice of this small planet. A person born in 1776 could expect to live 35 years. A person born today can expect to live 80 years. Which brings me to today's topic... Why businesses should be happy people are living and thus, working longer.
Here are just a few of the compelling reasons:
- The economy's shift toward knowledge-based jobs and away from physical labor will favor mature workers with established higher levels of education and credentials who can increase competitive advantages for employers. Until sheer numbers of our youth dramatically increase their educational investment in math, science and technology, we will desperately need qualified mature workers to continue to contribute.
- The mature workforce offers employer's one of the best opportunities to combine experience with flexibility and, hence, lower costs associated with engaging a workforce that often prefers project or flexible work options.
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics makes the case that there will be a worker shortage of nearly 10 million people by 2010 as mature workers continue to exit the workforce. Others have stated that recruiting talent from all generations is at the top of critical issues in 2007 as it is this year when demand seriously begins to outpace supply.
If your employer isn't getting the picture, there are a number of resources that can educate them on the many benefits of engaging a maturing workforce as an integral part of their business strategies.
