This is for all of us who are women, struggling to survive. This information is important. Gone are the days....
Showing posts with label crisis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crisis. Show all posts
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Ideas for Sustainability in a Tough Market: For Displaced Homemakers
Susan Brannon
1 September 2011
Today, job hunting is not easy, and the way to search for jobs has changed in the last decade. The economy is not good and businesses are cutting back, offering early retirement packages or cutting hours. If you are a displaced homemaker, job hunting is that much harder for you. It is against the law to discriminate over age and sex or religion, but after speaking "honestly" with many recruiters, HR folks, and company managers, the bottom line is that they want to hire younger people, "people with more energy", "quick learners", and someone who "fits the corporate culture".
It is a sad day when managers fall into the corporate mindset, and the corporations loose their moral responsibilities to society. It is all about making a profit, and rightly so. If I owned a company, I would need to make a profit but my question is; how much and at what expense? If you are "older" meaning over 40 you will find that for some reason, no one will take you seriously with your job hunting and your creative abilities. It takes an average of six months for a person to find a job these days, but if you are older, the time can take much longer. Some folks have been looking for a job for over a year. Times have changed and we need to find the loopholes, to get us through these changes and rise above the new generation of the corporate mindset.
I have spoken with a number of "older" job hunters who are frustrated with how society today seems to put them into a specific mold, a babysitter, a nanny, or someone who just moves too slow. They ask me, "What happened to wisdom, life experience and vital input an older person can give to a company?" not to mention stability, and commitment. In the end, they all try to be creative and invent their own jobs using the talents that they have and developing them into a marketable product. That is not easy, and sometimes can be quite expensive.
If you decide to put your creative energies to work, then I would suggest:
- A product or service that meets the needs of the times. Do to our economic down-slide, the middle class is spending less money and the poor are not spending any money except on basic needs.
- It is important to look at where the market is. I have been speaking with many business owners, and managers and 100 percent told me that the people who are spending money, are spending it in a different way than before.
For example, most folks would buy a lot of something that is quite not as good quality for instance, furniture; people used to feel that when they changed their styles and taste, they could just throw out the old and give it away later then buy the new. Now, people are buying less items, but spending more on better quality products. They purchase that piece of furniture that they can last a lifetime and give to their grandchildren. This is quite the opposite than it has been for the past 20 years.
- The spending trends, are turning back similar to how our grandparents used their money. They buy less but are willing to spend more on a few items that will last a lifetime.
- your target would either be the wealthy, or creating quality products that will last a lifetime. It is important to find the "niche" of needs in our society in order to generate an income. Look around your community and find out where that "hole" is.
- Another large market are the baby boomers. There are 78 million born from 1946 to 1964 and most plan on retiring late. Try to think about what product or service you can offer them.
- Can you start a care giver company, by hiring others like you to serve and assist others that are just a bit older?
- Can you offer shopping services,
- driving services, or
- companion services to take to lunch and just chat?
- Think of these items as ways that assist the families, giving them relief that someone is helping to relieve some of the stress from the caregivers.
- Grandparents and parents love buying items for their children.
- Can you create a service to film the growing child, or
- create safe and creative learning toys?
- Maybe you can offer tutoring services, hiring others like yourself to provide one on one tutoring. Busy parents do not have a lot of time to help the kids after school with their school work.
- by volunteering in the schools as a reader or a career counsler. Get to know the people and let them get to know you. You can develop a network of people that just might be looking for someone to tutor their children!
Related Articles:
How to get a job using LinkedIn
LinkedIn Profile Tips
Job Search: Don't Apply Online
Tips on Finding That Job
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tips on Finding That Job
Susan Brannon
31 August 2011
With the downfall of our economy, companies cutting back both employees and hours, or outsourcing jobs to other countries, it is no telling how long it will take to find a job. You may land a job in a week, or 1 year. You can look 24/7 and 365 days a week with no luck and without an interview. Even temporary work services is down and not hiring. There are over 16 million people looking for work. You will need to be patient, do not take it personally, and stay persistent.
Adjust Your Mindset:
1) Decide that you are going to get a job, and there are no other options.
2) Spend as much time looking for a job, because this is your new job! Spend more time on looking for that job, than you did in your previous job.
3) Be willing to take something that is "beneath you" This way you will stay connected in the workforce.
4) Disregard the talk that no one is hiring! Companies are always looking for productive solutions, new creative ideas, that create more money.
5) Stay away from others who are unemployed, their attitude may creep up on you and you want to stay positive. People can feel your energy, if you are down trodden, or up in spirits. No one wants to hire or be around those who are depressed, maintain a positive attitude.
6) Do not relay on your resume' to land you the job. You are the person that will help you to land your job.
7) Bypass the HR department, find the decision makers, keep your shoulders high, and head forward.
What you need to do:
1) You need to develop a system for looking for a job. Try not to focus on the results, but the system that you use. Keep a list of where you have searched, including the dates and process. I would suggest an excel sheet with columns; When,Who, What, Contact, How, Response, and Notes
When: The date
Who; list the company name
What; The job position; title
Contact; name of person, phone number, email,
How: Online or hand in resume'
Response: An automatic email, a call, an interview
Notes: when you should follow up, and how...by a call or email. Also include, notes about the company, their website etc... This way if you land an interview, you can be prepared to research the company before going.
2) Make sure that you are looking at places that fit your talents. If you do not know accounting, don't apply for a bookkeeping job. If you like people, apply for customer service positions.
3) Don't waste your time online. The number of people who find a job online is between two to five percent at the most.
4) Tell everyone that you know, that you are looking for a job. Send out mass emails; even if it is to someone that you hardly know. Tell neighbors, friends of friends, the grocery store that you shop at...everyone. It is not beneath you to let everyone know.
5) Update your resume' (that is a given) and have a digital copy (pdf) and paper copies on hand at all times. The average resume' is read in 10 seconds. You need to hit the reader with your mouth and in person.
6) After sending your resume' follow up with a call and introduce yourself to the supervisor. Ninety-eight percent of companies in the U.S. have fewer than 100 people working for them. Contacting one of the managers is not hard to do.
Where to look:
With job freezes, hiring freezes, and layoffs that means (and we all know this) that the competition is tough. You need to dig deeper, the quality of your job search skills becomes critical, your skills need to be better, you need to be aware of "career branding" and you must be strategic about approaching employers.
1) Don't count on job boards. I call them resume' black holes. The data system hunts for "key words" relating to training skills, degrees and experience. Even if you are a perfect match for the job, your resume' may never get to someone who could stand by your potential value. Also, a vast majority of jobs are Not Advertised - online or anywhere.
2) Tap into your Network find out about job leads, before they go public. It is more important to know who knows you, than what you know. Keep in touch with everyone, and keep them on their radar to gain access to job leads. As I stated in a previous article: using LinkedIn to connect with a current employee with a company that you are interested in.
3) Offer help to others: For your contacts; pass along a tip or article to your network, it is like putting money in the bank. Offer to give a lecture, a link to a website of interest.
4) Blogs: Find blogs relevant to your interest written by professionals, become a regular commenter. This way you will not be judged by your resume' but your ideas and passions. Once you have developed a rapport with a blogger, ask about career advice and job leads.
5) Create "your brand" and develop and promote it: Don't be modest. Become an "expert", volunteer your skills for a community project, engage in an online forum, create a website, and yes...blog.
Don't get discouraged, in the meantime, find a way to earn money to get you by, offer house cleaning services, land a part time job, and remember that it is temporary until you find that job you really want.
Related Articles:
How to get a job using LinkedIn
LinkedIn Profile Tips
Job Search: Don't Apply Online
31 August 2011
With the downfall of our economy, companies cutting back both employees and hours, or outsourcing jobs to other countries, it is no telling how long it will take to find a job. You may land a job in a week, or 1 year. You can look 24/7 and 365 days a week with no luck and without an interview. Even temporary work services is down and not hiring. There are over 16 million people looking for work. You will need to be patient, do not take it personally, and stay persistent.
Adjust Your Mindset:
1) Decide that you are going to get a job, and there are no other options.
2) Spend as much time looking for a job, because this is your new job! Spend more time on looking for that job, than you did in your previous job.
3) Be willing to take something that is "beneath you" This way you will stay connected in the workforce.
4) Disregard the talk that no one is hiring! Companies are always looking for productive solutions, new creative ideas, that create more money.
5) Stay away from others who are unemployed, their attitude may creep up on you and you want to stay positive. People can feel your energy, if you are down trodden, or up in spirits. No one wants to hire or be around those who are depressed, maintain a positive attitude.
6) Do not relay on your resume' to land you the job. You are the person that will help you to land your job.
7) Bypass the HR department, find the decision makers, keep your shoulders high, and head forward.
What you need to do:
1) You need to develop a system for looking for a job. Try not to focus on the results, but the system that you use. Keep a list of where you have searched, including the dates and process. I would suggest an excel sheet with columns; When,Who, What, Contact, How, Response, and Notes
When: The date
Who; list the company name
What; The job position; title
Contact; name of person, phone number, email,
How: Online or hand in resume'
Response: An automatic email, a call, an interview
Notes: when you should follow up, and how...by a call or email. Also include, notes about the company, their website etc... This way if you land an interview, you can be prepared to research the company before going.
2) Make sure that you are looking at places that fit your talents. If you do not know accounting, don't apply for a bookkeeping job. If you like people, apply for customer service positions.
3) Don't waste your time online. The number of people who find a job online is between two to five percent at the most.
4) Tell everyone that you know, that you are looking for a job. Send out mass emails; even if it is to someone that you hardly know. Tell neighbors, friends of friends, the grocery store that you shop at...everyone. It is not beneath you to let everyone know.
5) Update your resume' (that is a given) and have a digital copy (pdf) and paper copies on hand at all times. The average resume' is read in 10 seconds. You need to hit the reader with your mouth and in person.
6) After sending your resume' follow up with a call and introduce yourself to the supervisor. Ninety-eight percent of companies in the U.S. have fewer than 100 people working for them. Contacting one of the managers is not hard to do.
Where to look:
With job freezes, hiring freezes, and layoffs that means (and we all know this) that the competition is tough. You need to dig deeper, the quality of your job search skills becomes critical, your skills need to be better, you need to be aware of "career branding" and you must be strategic about approaching employers.
1) Don't count on job boards. I call them resume' black holes. The data system hunts for "key words" relating to training skills, degrees and experience. Even if you are a perfect match for the job, your resume' may never get to someone who could stand by your potential value. Also, a vast majority of jobs are Not Advertised - online or anywhere.
2) Tap into your Network find out about job leads, before they go public. It is more important to know who knows you, than what you know. Keep in touch with everyone, and keep them on their radar to gain access to job leads. As I stated in a previous article: using LinkedIn to connect with a current employee with a company that you are interested in.
3) Offer help to others: For your contacts; pass along a tip or article to your network, it is like putting money in the bank. Offer to give a lecture, a link to a website of interest.
4) Blogs: Find blogs relevant to your interest written by professionals, become a regular commenter. This way you will not be judged by your resume' but your ideas and passions. Once you have developed a rapport with a blogger, ask about career advice and job leads.
5) Create "your brand" and develop and promote it: Don't be modest. Become an "expert", volunteer your skills for a community project, engage in an online forum, create a website, and yes...blog.
Don't get discouraged, in the meantime, find a way to earn money to get you by, offer house cleaning services, land a part time job, and remember that it is temporary until you find that job you really want.
Related Articles:
How to get a job using LinkedIn
LinkedIn Profile Tips
Job Search: Don't Apply Online
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
