The long-term unemployed are not a protected class in the United States. In September, 2011, the President proposed legislation that would make it unlawful to refuse to hire applicants solely because they are unemployed, but that legislation has not passed. Long-term unemployment is a serious issues…no one is denying this. One of the characteristics of […]
Many American corporations can trace their roots back to small, family-owned businesses, when young workers became apprentices to their older relatives and learned the “ins and outs” of running a business. In 2007, ¼ of the companies that responded to the US Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners were family owned. If your family owns […]
Whether you are hired or promoted for a job may depend on the information revealed in a background check. Today, job candidates, current employees and even volunteers may be asked to submit to background checks. Employers check potential and current workers for several reasons. The things an employer wants to know about you can vary […]
Finding a job today is not much different from a typical sales job….you are just selling yourself. Therefore, if you want to land a job, you need to master one of the most basic sales techniques out there – the so-called “elevator pitch.” An elevator pitch is not meant to only be used in an […]
More than 1/3 of American companies are operating with smaller staffs than before the recession. However, these companies still need to run a business, so they have turned (in many cases) to temporary workers. In this same survey, 36% have said they will hire temporary workers this year. This is up 2% from 2011 and […]
Chances are good that your references will be checked by a prospective employer. According to a survey report on reference and back ground checking conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), 96% of HR professionals stated that they always conduct reference checks. A further look at the breakdown by company size, indicates that: 92% […]
Work styles, personality, temperament…..it all sounds like a bunch of psychological mumbo-jumbo to many people who are looking for a job today. Many have the attitude of “I just want a job…I can make any situation work”. Whereas this outlook is understandable when you just need a job, the fact is that your relationships with […]
During the recession, many workers hunkered down and stayed at their current places of employment – for fear of losing what they have already achieved. However, now workers seem to be (slowly) moving in to new jobs. Starting out at a new job (or a new job assignment) is exciting and angst-filled. First impressions are […]
Transitioning from a military career to a civilian career can be an exciting new chapter in your life, but it is not easy to do. The transition can be hard. As you leave the military, you walk away with stupendous leadership and management skills. These provide a huge benefit to your perspective employer, but they […]
In March, an Associated Press (AP) story sparked outrage and outright pandemonium across the Web. It anecdotally highlighted the practice by some companies of asking for a candidate’s Facebook password during the interview. Candidates tweeted their reactions. Facebook threatened to sue to protect their customers’ privacy. The ACLU called the practice an “egregious privacy violation, […]
