Your Employment Score And The 21st Century Job Market

Getting a job is not what it used to be nor will it ever be the same again. In the not so distant past, employers reviewed your resume, called you in for an interview and phoned a few references to make sure you “check out.” These days with the proliferation and easy accessibility of data, the “check out” phase is a bit more extensive and, quite frankly, downright scary.

Consider the fate of one of my candidates a few months back. She was submitted for a product management position at a very well known and “hot” Silicon Valley company. She was currently employed for 10 years by another respectable Silicon Valley company and worked directly in the space that the potential employer wanted. In addition, she had advanced degrees in the targeted industry. After several days of interviews, the candidate was rejected. The reason? “A more qualified applicant applied online.” That’s It! To this day, I’m still stunned by that experience.

Companies have become increasingly more attentive to candidate review. Every aspect of a candidate’s background is now open to scrutiny, including your online presence (as I’ve discussed in a previous post), both personal and professional.

One little known fact that most candidates are unaware of, though, is that potential employers can also check your credit history. Why would an employer care about your credit history? Because a “less than stellar” history MIGHT indicate that you are an “at risk” employee. For example, If you’re having financial difficulty you might be easily distracted and not perform well.

Another reason your credit report might be checked is to see if you’re “shopping around” with other companies. Sometimes, when candidates go hunting for a new job, they apply for new credit or insurance in that particular area. Credit bureaus report on many of these applications.

Sneaky, yes. But, all too real and legal …

The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires credit agencies to provide their data to anyone who has a legitimate business need. In fact, it gets even scarier. Employers can also use this information not just for employment screening, but also for promotions, re-assignment or retention.

Of course, the Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you rights as well. If you are rejected for any of the reasons above, the employer must tell you so. They are also obligated to give you a free copy of your credit report. Furthermore, you have a right to dispute any of the information on your report.

However, it is very difficult to know the “real reason” why you are rejected. Employers can reject a candidate for a host of reasons: better qualified candidates (as you’ve seen above), not enough experience … basically, you name it.

Credit history is one aspect of a prospective candidate’s personal history review. Extrapolating from your credit, insurance agencies can and do charge more for insurance. The reason? The insurance companies believe that there is a correlation between bad credit and insurance claims. More insurance cost potentially means more expense to the employer. And, the list goes on …

There are a number of companies now providing what’s being called an “Employment Score”. It’s an overall assessment of credit, insurance, auto scores and other variations. Knowing your employment score can prepare you for your next job interview. With profile in hand, you can at a minimum, be prepared to answer tough questions or, best case scenario, fix inaccuracies before they become a problem.

With the economy in the tank, foreclosures on the rise, and unemployment high, it’s imperative to be extra-prepared. Your employment score another tool that can help put you on the offensive, rather than on the defensive.

Change Your Perception, Change Your Life

Every day today we’re bombarded by the media to believe that the sky is falling, you’d better run for cover … $700 Billion bailout … subprime market fallout … global recession. It certainly is true that we’re in for one helluva ride, but is there anything that we can do to make this ride a little less bumpy? Can we create for ourselves a sense of space that will keep us from falling into the black hole of media depression?

If you answer “yes”, then you stand a chance to change your life, get that job that you really want and live up to your own fullest potential. If you answer “no”, you’re destined to follow a prescribed path that is conditioning us for failure.

Lord knows that I am arguably worse off now than i was just a mere six years ago. Remember the dot-com blowup? The media and pundits all told us that Silicon Valley was dead and that we’d better stick our heads in the ground and wait it out. Yes, the Valley had slowed down tremendously, but those who did not follow the masses continued to plug away and ultimately survived and prospered.

I was recently introduced to a book called, Kickback. It’s about social guidance and our generation. We are influenced tremendously by what others say and do. We generally tend to follow what the masses are wearing, eating, drinking, etc. In other words, we are heavily influenced by peer pressure.

The author, Robert Urbanowski, asserts that we have changed very little since the stone age days. We use whtat he calls “social guidance” to determine how we should act, where we should live, and even how and when we should marry.

Urbanowski illustrates several examples of how social proof guides us in ways that immobilizes some from taking action, even when some tragic event is unfolding. One of the examples that he lays out in his first chapter explains how a group of 38 neighbors in 1964 failed to help a person who was brutally murdered right in front of their eyes. It was not until the victim was dead and silent did they end up calling the police. He goes on to explain the scientific reason behind their inability to react.

Some people might call this phenomenon “herd mentality”. In fact, marketers have been using advanced techniques to get the masses to buy for decades. They know that once the masses accept a certain thing as cool or acceptable, it will be easy to manipulate the rest of the herd.

Urbanowski continues to discuss how the ascpect of our social conscience has gotten us into trouble relative to excess consumption and debt. It is essentially driving us into a downward sprial. The real key to success is not driving toward fame, fortune and get rich quick schemes. But, to drive toward getting happy fast. This is the essence of the book. How can we achieve contentedness through the pursuit of happiness.

What does Kickback have to do with careers? It lays out a foundation for you and me to figure out what is important to us before we decide what job we want, how much money we need to make and what kind of car we want to own.

As Urbanowki points out … we don’t have to be like the American buffalo, heading toward impending disaster with our heads down. We have the ability to stop, look up and re-examine how we are approaching life. Is this the life we want to live or is it what everyone else is promoting around us.

Kickback by Robert Urbanowski.

Executive Job Descriptions And Resources

Maybe you are one who changes careers or jobs every seven years. Maybe you are a student preparing a career portfolio wherein one assignment is to include executive job descriptions. Maybe you are just curious about the kinds of jobs and salaries out there. Or maybe you are in high school contemplating your future or in college about to go into the work force. Whichever the case, you may be interested in executive job descriptions and the databases that offer executive job descriptions.

There are a number of comprehensive and helpful sources to consult on campus or at the Employment Development Department or job clinics in your town, but there are also, of course, fine resources online: for example, such sites as Salary.com is a site that includes a job search engine (updated daily), one which can also be found at numerous other current sites, such as metasearch engines Monster.com, Flipdog.com, Yahoo! Hot Jobs, and Jobs-Matrix.com. At the same time, local jobs can be researched at smaller search engines, like JobStar SF or California Job Bank, for example, for those living in or moving to the California Bay Area, for instance.

Whatever role you hope to fill, you can look through thousands of positions, and study the executive job descriptions on the EUREKA database, which offers information such as projected openings in a particular field. Additionally, Eureka has job boardscalls for executives and assistants around the world!as well as career planning information and ISPCA and other services.

When you read the executive job descriptions, you will note how in order to provide the best of services once you are in a position, you need special skills and specific qualifications: for example, in one job opening description, the most desirable applicant would bring such character traits to the position as follows:

dedicated to the concepts of localism.
responsibility to the communities we serve.
open to pioneer new concepts and ideas.
able to build partnerships, use the website to further the XXX brand and increase user base.
proficient in on-line AP journalistic standards.
HTML coding and graphics ability preferred.

You will therefore need to know what training or additional training you will need to be able to provide such skill sets. Details on exact training you need for exact skills you should bring, can be found at such comprehensive sites as The U.S. Department of Labors Bureau of Labor Statistics. There you will also find, besides or within specific and thorough executive job descriptions, what the salaries are for each level of a particular job, what health, environmental, and safety hazards exist, and projected estimates on job availability and hourly or annual wage considerations in the future of that job.

Also at the Labor Bureau site, you can pursue by searching detailed executive job descriptions, with information ranging from unemployment trends and statistics, mass layoff statistics, and national trends to business employment dynamics, job openings, and labor turnover survey statistics.
Whatever your reasons for job searching, then, you will be able to approach your new endeavor well informed and equally well prepared.

Is Workplace Safety A Concern?

Workplace safety is a chief concern among many employers, and as such extensive measures have been taken to ensure maximum production in a safe, controlled environment as much as possible.

Most employers aim to prevent workplace injury, accidents, violence in the workplace, and anything else that hinders workplace safety in any way. If an employer refuses to adhere to certain workplace safety rules and regulations, and an accident occurs on the premises, they may find themselves paying varied Government fees and fines.

All employers are legally obligated to provide a safe place of work for their employers. This was deemed necessary under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970. With this law, workplace safety was brought to the forefront of employers minds.

The reason this act came about was in response to the large number of accidents and even death that had been occurring in the workplace. There are several general rules under whats known as the general duty clause, and every single business, without exception, must adhere to these guidelines.

Under these guidelines, an employer can be found in violation if a hazard existed, the hazard was foreseeable, the hazard was able and likely to cause death or other serious damage, the employer had knowledge of the hazard, and/or the workers were exposed to the hazard. This clause helps enforce basic guidelines for workplace safety.

In addition to these general rules, all businesses must also comply with industry-specific guidelines regarding workplace safety. These are also known as OSHA standards. Keep in mind; these are just the federal regulations that govern workplace safety. Each individual state has the right to develop standards as they see fit, provided its as effective as the OSHA requirements. Basically, if your business wants to operate in a state governed by their own workplace safety rules, then your business must adhere to those standards. If on the other hand you conduct your business in a state where OSHAs guidelines rule, you must comply with them.

Workplace safety is a very serious issue that cannot be taken lightly. Thankfully, there are regulations in place that govern workplace safety, and maintain a strict standard of safety among businesses for their employees.

Its almost frightening to think that without these guidelines, there would be no rules to regulate a businesss requirement to provide a safe environment for their workers. Thankfully, OSHA and the state government developed requirements that all businesses must comply with in order to operate.

As an employee its important that you realize that you do have the right to a safe workplace and to bear in mind that your employer must provide that to you.

Jobs For Communications Majors Hard To Get?

One of the interesting things about a degree in communications is the number of different fields it opens up. When you do a preliminary job search, it can look like there aren’t very many jobs for communications majors. After all, it is not like most areas of specialty where all the jobs are in the same thing. For example, if you major in business, you can find all the opportunities you like on a business jobs website. As a communications major, however, you have to be a little bit more clever.

Basically, jobs for communications majors depend on your other interests and skills. Many communications majors, understandably, like to go in to advertising. If you have an advertising degree in addition to your communication major, there are a lot of doors open for you. You’ll be able to work in both traditional advertising and more novel types such as viral marketing. Your background in communications will make you more skilled in getting the contacts that you need to succeed in this field.

Of course, many of the jobs for communications majors are in public relations. Being a communications major almost guarantees you an interview with a public relations firm. After all, even fresh out of college they can assume that you are skilled at representing clients and spin doctoring whenever the situation calls for it. Make a good impression, and you will be a shoe in.

Of course, there are also jobs for communications majors in nonprofit industries. If you really want to use your communication skills to make the world a better place, this can be one of the most promising career fields for you. Nonprofit organizations particularly national and international ones need communications representatives every bit as much as businesses do. In these jobs for communications majors, you will be able to take pride in the quality of work you do while helping out in a cause you believe in. What could be better than that?

Of course, if you are in the unfortunate position of not finding any of these career paths appealing, don’t despair. A major in communications is a respected liberal arts degree that will open up many other venues for you. You could be a traffic coordinator, A retailer shipping manager, or really anything else you put your mind to. Majoring in communications opens up many doors, but it doesn’t close very many. With a little bit of imagination and a lot of hard work, the world is wide open to you.

Should You Choose A Career Assessment Test?

Everyone stresses out about choosing a career at some point or another. The healthy ones get the stress over with at the beginning, worrying about it before they get too involved in their chosen field. People with less self-knowledge usually just go into a chosen career because they are expected to, because it will make their parents happy, because it is traditional in their family, or for some other arbitrary reason. They think that they have escaped worrying about choosing a career, but they are wrong. Down the road, they will stress out twice as much when they realize that they may not have chosen the right lifetime occupation.

When you are choosing a career, you can feel pretty bleak and lost. After all, it is difficult to decide on what you will do for the rest of your life. This is why a career assessment test can be useful. A lot of people dismiss career assessment tests ,claiming that they are too simplistic. In some ways, these people are right a typical career assessment test is quite simplistic. This simplicity, however, is the whole point.

You see, a career aptitude test is not meant to tell you what you should do, but to help you locate your own motivations, desires, and ideas. By asking you targeted questions, your career test can give you some indication about what might make you happy. If it seems right, you know what field to go into. If it seems wrong, you probably already have some idea about what you want to do something that you have never thought about before. Your way, the career assessment test has just helped you to make up your mind.

Remember, a career assessment test isn’t there to judge you. That isn’t the purpose. It is there as a tool for you to use to help yourself choose the right job. Given the number of free career assessment tests out there, you can afford To try out more than one. If you find the information to be simplistic, incorrect, or unhelpful, you can always try out another free career assessment test. If, on the other hand you find the information useful, you have just gotten some excellent advice for free. Even employers can use career tests as a way to screen potential employees. The right test can tell an employer who is interviewing because they really have a passion for the job, and who is just looking for a way to make some money until something better comes along.

Careers In Computer Animation, Still Hard To Come By?

Back before the age of inexpensive and powerful computers, animation careers were hard to come by. Now in the 21st century, there are more ways to find careers in computer animation than ever before. Only a few years ago, the equipment needed was extremely expensive, the technical expertise requirements were very demanding, and the job was time-consuming. For these primary reasons, to become a professional animator was difficult. There were few jobs, and it was a difficult field to break into the field. It was such a time consuming occupation, after all, that it was almost impossible for private individuals to make their own animations in their spare time. Not to mention the expense.

Computer generated animation using relative cheap and powerful PCs changed all that. Nowadays, careers in computer animation are readily available to anyone who wants to take the time to study. There are many different ways to go about it. The most accepted way to try to get a career in computer animation is still to go to a respected animation school. There are plenty of art schools around with excellent animation programs. Some of them focus more on computer animated cartoons, while others have a bigger emphasis on traditional styles. Either type of program will prepare you for where you need to go in this field.

Of course, many careers in computer animation start off with experimentation at home. Anyone can learn to program flash animations, and some of the effects people get are pretty darn good. Animating your own cartoons is a great way to build up a portfolio and get your work seen. Ever heard of YouTube? Once you get a following, you can use that to get hired by a computer animation studio. Alternately, you can keep working for yourself. Many careers in computer animation, after all, take place completely on the Internet.

Still, it can’t hurt to have a career plan particularly if you don’t already have a way to make a living. This is why going to an animation school is the most widely practiced way of getting a career in computer animation. There are so many people who have the skills that animation industry companies can afford to rule out anyone who doesn’t have the credentials without even giving them a second chance. If you can’t get your foot in the door, you will never become eligible for any of the best careers in computer animation. Going to animation school will give you a broad-based educational program which will teach you a lot more than you could easily learn on your own. All in all, going to a school for animation makes a lot of sense.

A Sound Strategy For Working with Executive Recruiters

Before you select and work with an executive recruitment firm, here are few executive recruitment strategies that can help you get started.

For whatever type of relationship that you seek, there is one thing that is true for all. It takes effort to make a relationship work. Among the executive recruitment strategies that you will learn here is building relationships between you as a job seeker and the recruiting consultants from executive recruitment companies or vice versa. Before you work with executive recruitment companies, you should understand how they work and when you should work with them or be on your own. There are some cases that getting a recruiter will work while there are situations that you should strike on your own. Read on to learn more about executive recruitment strategies that can really help.

If you are on the search for a new job, it is important to understand that ALL available strategies should be considered and used. Some would say that the best way to find a job is by sending out your resume to all the recruiters you can find. This is not always true. Although they can help in building networks, the most common way that positions are filled is through professional networks. One of the most helpful executive recruitment strategies is to work with an executive recruiter while you still have a job and not when you are unemployed. As you can see, the most marketable people are those who are still working. You are at a disadvantage if you approach recruitment firms while unemployed.

Next among executive recruitment strategies is to be persistent. Make sure you follow up from time to time. Its always important to be visible to your recruiters. You can remind your recruiter that you are interested by calling or emailing from time to time. You are then making them remember you as well. However, do not spam recruiters. No one loves spam. So make sure to limit your follow ups.

Another strategy is keeping your resume updated at all times. If you have posted your resume online, make sure that it is the latest one. Some recruiters actually search for the resumes that were currently updated in the last three days. The more frequent you update, the more that you will show up in the top searches of these recruiters.

Be selective when searching for an executive recruitment company. Never work with companies who make you pay for their services. They get their pay from the companies who are looking for employers and not from job hunters. At the same time, make sure that you know a lot about the recruiting firm youre getting. This is your career so make sure that they are an ethical company who shows professionalism. Read more executive recruitment strategies from top recruitment consultants by subscribing to our newsletter.

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