Truck Drivers Quitting to Clean-up in Gulf States

Had my haircut this morning. Not much new or interesting there, but the woman who cuts my hair told me that her significant other is considering quitting driving a truck all over the country and instead temporarily moving to Mississippi or Louisiana to help with the clean-up efforts from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He’s heard that contractors and other organizations are hiring people with chain saw and handyman type experience for $20 per hour. As a long haul truck driver, he’s been clearing about $1,000 per month. So at $20 per hour he can make almost 3.5 times as much doing storm clean-up work than driving a truck.
Seems to me that he can make even more by working for himself. He owns a chain saw and knows how to use it safely, so he could just go door-to-door and make $500 or so per house for a few hours of work. I’ve heard many homeowners have been paying thousands of dollars to vultures who always seem to descend on victims when they are the most desperate. $500 to clear a huge downed tree is pretty reasonable, and for someone who knows what they’re doing and can do it safely and quickly it is very good money. And it sure beats driving a truck across the country day after day for someone who enjoys the company of others.

Self-Promotion

Had an interesting conversation today with a consultant who works with job seekers. His philosophy is that job seekers really damage their chances by failing to promote themselves. Most of us have been taught to be modest and not to brag about our accomplishments, yet to properly sell yourself to a potential employer you must cite your accomplishments and prove that you’re the best candidate for the position. This is a real struggle for many job seekers, yet it is one that they must overcome to be successful.
One option that job seekers can use is to sell themselves as a job seeker as if they were selling a service to a potential customer. They should make sure that the customer (the employer) understands not only the features but, more imporantly, also the benefits. Although it grates on the nerves of most when people speak about themselves in the third person, it may be helpful to some job seekers to think of themselves that way. But don’t speak that way. Please!

Has Anyone Seen My Twenties?

Premature aging is spreading across the UK and is particularly prevalent amongst recent graduates in the UK who, upon leaving university, are plunged straight into fears about the property ladder, pensions and paying off their student debts. These young people graduate at the age of 21, do not pass go and head straight to 35, worrying about their personal finance investments before finding their feet in life.

These un-twentysomethings lifestyles can generally categorised within two extremes, either not going out at all because they have no money or going out and partying every Friday and Saturday night, because they feel directionless. Groups such as these may not seem particularly worrying, but many graduates are finding that they are working themselves to the bone by taking on two jobs and working seven days a week just to meet their bills. Some young graduates are known to even take on multiple jobs so they can bolster up their salary details for mortgage applications. By doing so, they commit themselves to a loan that can only be repaid through exhaustion.

These characteristics have been assigned to the emergence of the quarter-life crisis, but this epidemic of financial concern tends to be a problem for those who have been through higher education, rather than those who took full time employment straight after leaving school. This represents a worrying trend given the government encouragement for increased school leavers to attend university.

UK graduates find it particularly tough as they are often groomed to believe that they can get good salaries and corporate jobs. Yet many young people leave university only to be hit by the hard reality that the competition is immense and that expectations must be lowered. Some graduates, unable to find work immediately after graduation, get themselves into further debt by taking out career development loans and other forms of commercial borrowing to undertake a further qualification.

Due to the volume of UK graduates on the market, the need to stand out has made life much more competitive. Contacts, professional qualifications, Masters degrees and relevant work experience are now required to help secure a

More Money for Bill Gates

Microsoft announced today that it would increase the salaries of Chairman Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer. If these two aren’t amongst the most underpaid executives in the world, I don’t know who is.
There’s little doubt that Microsoft’s stock has languished over the past couple of years and that many now view the company as being past its prime, tired, and fat. But over the next year or so this powerhouse is set to release new versions of its most powerful money generating products, including the greatly anticipated successor to Windows XP.
So Bill will now make $620,000 per year for creating and running one of the most successful organizations ever. While that sounds like a lot of money to most of us, let’s not forget that Dennis Kozlowski had his former employer, Tyco, pay $1 million for a birthday party for his wife and $6,000 for shower curtains.
So congrats to Microsoft, its shareholders, and its customers. And thank you to Bill and Steve for recognizing that they provide a great deal of value, but don’t need to be paid more than the guy across the street in order to feel good about themselves.
Steven Rothberg, President and Founder

Are Minors Helpful?

Question from Candidate:
I am very lost. How exactly do minors work? I know they are an opportunity for you to learn more about something different than a major, but do you get a degree in your minor also? Does your minor show up anywhere like on your degree or would your official title be John Doe degree in Business and minor in Art? How do employers look at minors?
I’m thinking about getting a major in sociology and a minor in music. How does that sound? Is it useless to have your major and minor in two separate topics? I mean what does your minor really do?

How hipsters chat at work…

New Office Slang

404 – Someone who is clueless. From the Web error message,

What Separates Your Services From the Rest of The Pack?

Self-Employed Professionals: What Separates Your Services From the Rest of the Pack?

“Gen Y” or “The Entitled Generation?”

Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak about volunteering to a groups of 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students. I spoke with them about the importance of volunteering, not only because it helps their community and the world but also because, well, it just feels so good to help others. These kids, if you can call a 17 year old a kid, were so bright, so motivated, so eager to give of themselves that I found myself wondering all the way home how anyone could describe this generation “The Entitled Generation.”
Do these kids have more stuff than their parents? In most cases, yes. Are they more likely to take that stuff for granted? In most cases, yes. Are these kids more likely to forego the opportunities of making more money or having a bigger job if they must sacrifice their quality of life? In most cases, yes.
While there are certainly bad apples in every basket, I absolutely love this generation. These 17 year olds were 13 years old on 9/11. They were, for the most part, too young to have held jobs and still young enough to be highly impressionable. They’re still young enough to be idealistic and cynicism about their ability to make a difference has not yet set in. And they are eager to make a difference, even if the difference that each makes individually won’t change the world.
I’ve spoken about my volunteering efforts to rooms of Baby Boomers, Gen X’ers, and Gen Y’ers. Boomers typically sit back and listen. They typically are interested and like being entertained, but when it comes time for them to make a contribution, they usually beg off by claiming that they’re too busy. Are they? I have no doubt that they’re busy. We all are. But like everything else in life, it is a matter of priorities. If they really wanted to volunteer to help better the lives of those around us, they could and would.
Gen X’ers also tend to be somewhat passive when hearing about volunteer opportunities, but when it comes time for them to make a contribution, most of them do. The biggest issue that I’ve found with Gen X’ers is that many and perhaps most of them have not yet identified the one or two causes about which they feel passionate. They struggle with how to divide their energy between different causes because they feel positively about many. They are willing and able to make time in their day, week, month, or year to make a difference but they need help figuring out how to do so.
Gen Y’ers, much more than the other two groups, dive right in. At yesterday’s sessions, I heard no excuses about being too busy or a desire to simply write a check. Instead, what I heard was, “How can I be involved?” They had no doubt that they wanted to contribute and would find a way to do so. Their questions were not based upon deciding how what is the minimum amount that they should contribute. Instead, they wanted to know from those of us with more experience how they could make the most difference to the lives of those around us.
Does the world have problems? You bet. Do we all need to be surrounded by more people who care and who get involved? Absolutely. Are we in good hands with this youngest generation of adults? Without a doubt.
Steven Rothberg, President and Founder
CollegeRecruiter.com

On the Ready

Given the fact that we are only now (and I mean in the last six months or less) emerging from the New Millennium Depression, it’s surprising how many people I see using employment development centers and dressed as though they’re going to the park or kicking around on a Saturday afternoon to do housework.

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Is that 2nd job really worth it? Find out here…

If you are married with mouths to feed and your spouse is keeping the kids at home because daycare is too expensive, well… chances are you made the right decision. Sometimes two working spouses are not worth it once you consider all the variables. However, if you need convincing (or just plain curious) Microsoft has a tool that will bring it home to you. The Microsoft Second Income Calculator is a free tool for evaluating the true financial return of adding a second income. Its as easy as 1-2-3. 1.   Go to The Microsoft Second Income Calculator .

. 2.   Enter information such as: Annual Income, Taxes, Work Expenses and Lifestyle .

. 3.  Review the results and be amazed. The Microsoft Second Income Calculator breaks down how much money you are losing (when applicable) annually or hourly as a result of taking on a second job. .

. Hope this helps…