CeeBee: CareerBuilder.com's Job Search SmartyPants

For Love or Money

The age old debate of doing what you love or doing what makes money always produces a variety of responses, but according to a recent survey by Men’s Journal, more workers would be willing to take a pay cut if it meant a better balance between their work lives and personal fulfillment.

The survey, set to be featured in the October issue of Men’s Journal, found 55 percent of surveyed readers would be willing to take a pay cut in exchange for job satisfaction.  If the annual income was upped to $100,000, 57 percent would reconsider, with sentiments that all of their hard work would be worth the trouble, but six percent felt no amount of money could make up for their amount job frustration.

While money is one of the major factors, it’s not the only element of a job that can make or break it.  Benefits, quality work conditions, relationships at work, opportunities for growth and advancement, acknowledgement and the job itself all play a part in whether a job will be satisfying or a cause for continual stress and frustration.

So the next time you are considering a job offer, remember that a little less can go a lot farther if you’re putting in your 39-and-under or 40-plus hours in at a job that promotes a positive work environment.  But even if you find the right place, don’t rely solely on the company to make or break your work scene.  The effort shouldn’t be a one-way street.  You’re still the only one that can really make yourself happy, but having a positive work environment to start with will certainly help.

By: Candace Corner CareerBuilder.com

Are You Weighing in from Work?

If the waistline on your workpants seems a little snug, you’re not alone.  According to our recent “Work and Health” survey, forty-six percent of workers reported gaining weight since starting their present jobs.  One-in-five workers say they are more than 10 pounds heavier, while nearly one-in-ten workers have packed on more than 20 pounds.

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The industries people work in also play a big role in whether or not they gain weight. Retail workers reported the smallest weight increase at 35 percent.  Sales workers had the second smallest with 39 percent reporting a weight gain.  Accounting/finance workers saw a 53 percent increase and IT workers saw a 54 percent increase.  Government workers topped the list at 57 percent.

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With long work hours and office vending machines on-hand for easy snacking, company wellness programs would lead to significant improvement, but 80 percent of workers report their companies don’t offer incentives to help them stay healthy.

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In addition, the state you live and work in could be playing a part in gaining weight.

Here are some tips Careerbuilder offer for keeping control over the battle of the bulge:

• Use your commute. If you drive to work, park farther away from the office. If you use public transportation, get off the bus or train a stop or two early and walk the rest of the way.
• Stock up on brown bags. One-third of workers say they buy their lunches instead of bringing them at least three times a week; 12 percent eat out Monday through Friday. By packing your own lunches, you can control portions and lessen the strain on both your waistband and your wallet.
• Put in some face time. Instead of relying on instant messaging or e-mail when you need to chat with a colleague, walk over and talk to them face-to-face. Those extra steps will add up.
• Only eat when you’re hungry. Many workers turn to food to ease their boredom and stress. Keep a bottle of water at your desk and drink it throughout the day to curb your urge to chow down.

Snack smart. One-third of workers say they snack at least twice a day at work, and 40 percent eat more unhealthy snacks at work than they do at home. Skip the vending machines and start packing healthier snacks like crackers or raw veggies.

By: Candace Corner CareerBuilder.com

Getting Down to Business

Undoubtedly, you’ve heard or read some advice on what limits “casual” has in your workplace, but did you know that for every company that allows it, there are a few more that favor the formality of traditional business garb?

A few recent surveys state that more employees are in favor of a more formal dress code, and that the workplace is seeing a decline in business casual dress codes. The argument is that a relaxed workplace equals a decrease in productivity.  Another concern is that business casual gives too much room for interpretation, or that people take advantage of relaxed dress codes by dressing inappropriately, which ruins their business image.

If you disagree, let us know. 

If you favor business casual and want some advice on what you should wear to work, go here. 

And if you don’t want to do either of those, but like reading about dress codes, check this out. 

By: Candace Corner

CareerBuilder.com

Going Up? How to Master Your Elevator Pitch

You’ve updated your resume, collected your references, dry-cleaned your power suit and are ready-to-go…

…or are you?

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If your job-interview and networking presentations are packed with long pauses or sound more like unstructured ongoing rants, no amount of ironing and editing will help you make the impression you’re trying to make.  That’s why you need to map out your elevator pitch before you head over to a networking event or answer the dreaded, “tell me a little bit about yourself” question at an interview.

Wikipedia defines an elevator pitch as a brief overview of an idea for a product, service or project that can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride, or within about thirty seconds.  The focus is on promotion, which is exactly what you’re doing when you’re trying to sell someone on the idea of hiring you or keeping you in mind for future job opportunities.

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There are a variety of online articles, experts and books with suggestions on how to perfect your pitch, but here are some common guide lines:

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Figure out your top accomplishments

Think back to the personal and professional events in your life and write them down.  Ideally, you should come up with situations that reflect a balance of the two.  Construct a brief summary of how you handled those situations and what you learned from them.

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Find your main points

Narrow your experiences to around five main points that are relevant to your current career path/job search.  These accomplishments should range from how you got started (i.e., breaks after graduating college) to your most current goals.

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Focus on your strengths

Now that you’ve figured out what points you want to include, you’ll want to make sure that your experiences are a reflection of your personal and professional mannerisms and ethics.  Are you trying to demonstrate your ability to handle pressure? Are you trying to demonstrate your ability to use teamwork to the company’s advantage?  Make sure your accomplishments clearly suggest what points you’re trying to highlight and how those qualities match up with the company’s values and needs.

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As mentioned previously, you’ll want to keep this personal pitch around thirty seconds, especially for networking events.  Interviews allow a little extra time, but you still want to keep it concise as possible lest you risk ranting on endlessly.  The listener is looking for key points that will tell them why you’re a good candidate for a job, so save the life story for your memoirs.

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By Candace Corner

CareerBuilder.com

Rural Food Animal Veterinarians Wanted

I recently came across an article by Mikel Alderman describing the increased need for vets in rural settings. Alderman’s article includes reported findings by The Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association stating that while the demand for veterinarians is increasing, few graduates are setting off to work in these areas. 

The job fill shortage is bad for the animals, but it can also have a potentially deadly effect on all of society.  While most people are not aware of it (as I wasn’t before reading this article) the secondary role of vets is to report early detections of unusual diseases.  With a large number of veterinarians currently up for retirement and a lack of qualified veterinarians available for replacement, there is an increased risk of eating contaminated foods.

Before a lot of people make a career decision, they want to know if the job will be a good fit for them. I’ve listed some animal-work related jobs to get you started.  Maybe they’ll be the experience needed to inspire filling some of our country’s rural vet needs.

Animal Behavioral Trainer:

What they do: Teach animals how to act in response to different conditions or stimuli.  Training is conducted for entertainment, protection, detection or companionship.

What they earn: *$36,000 is the median salary with one to four years of experience.

Animal Caretaker

What they do:  Assist in grooming, training and companionship for animals staying in pet spas, kennels and similar temporary locations.

What they earn:  A median salary of $30,000 when working for a company.

Marine Biologist:

What they do: Study and interact closely with the lives of species that spend all or most of their lives in water.

What they earn:  $45,000 is the median salary.

Park Management:

What they do:  Oversee daily park maintenance and operations.  They are in charge of preserving and protecting wilderness areas.

What they earn:  $40,000 is the median salary for state and local government positions.

Secondary School Science Teacher

What they do:  Educate students on the methods of observation, experimentation and study of different topics in science, including animal life.

What they earn:  A median salary between $41,400 and $45, 920.

Animal Groomer

What they do: Maintain the appearance and hygiene of animals.

What they earn:  A median salary of $30,000 when working for a company.

Veterinary Pathologist:

What they do: Study the scientific causes, development and results of diseases in animals.

What they earn:  A median salary between $120,000 and $160,000 for industry work.

Animal Welfare Lawyer

What they do: Practice law with special focus on how it deals with animals.  Cases can range from veterinary malpractice to anti-cruelty issues.

What they earn:  The median annual earnings of all lawyers are $94,930

Zoo Director:

What they do: Organize and direct zoo operations.  This position includes everything from analyzing the annual budget to organizing the special care of animals.

What they earn:  The average starting salary for zoologists is $28,000, increasing to $36,000 after five years.

Animal-Assisted Therapist

What they do: Study behavioral patterns in animals and apply techniques to improve mental, social and physical issues within humans through animal/human companionship.

What they earn:  Median annual earnings of physical therapists are $60,180, but the concentration of animal-assistance may increase or decrease earnings.  Some animal-assisted therapy is considered volunteer work. 

* Salary sources: Payscale.com, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS),

American

College

of Veterinary Pathologists (AVCP), The Princeton Review

By Candace Corner

CareerBuilder.com

Telecommuting: Can You Handle It?

According to a National Technology Readiness Survey, workers who have an option of telecommuting or jobs that work well with the telecommuting environment, still often choose not to.

The upside for ditching the daily commute goes beyond clocking in with your pajamas still on.  Telecommuting allows flextime, giving you the opportunity to choose your hours and be there for your family or other obligations when the times come.  Instead of staring for hours at a blank screen, you settle in for increased productivity.  You also have the luxury of  avoiding bumper-to-bumper traffic or overfilled public transit and saving money on the cost of traveling to work.

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But there are downsides.

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“Out of sight, out of mind” can play a role in why telecommuters get passed up for promotions.  And if you’re out of the office all week long, you’re missing out on the social interaction with co-workers.  It can also be difficult to separate the responsibilities of home and job.. 

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Figuring out whether this is the right choice comes down to you, the company, and your role in the company.  Are you a self-starter? Are you extremely organized? Is your company close-knit or all over the place? What kind of work do you do there?

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If you have a life at home that allows you to close yourself off when you need to, then you’ll be more apt to adjusting to telecommuting.  If you’re home life creates a constant demand for your attention, you’ll need to find a way to take control of the situation so that your family, room mates, or friends can distinguish your work hours from your off time.

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You also need to think about your workspace.  In the same way studying in your bedroom can lead to napping, setting up shop at your kitchen table could have you examining more than spreadsheets or Word documents.  You may feel pressed to clean up around you and abandon your work altogether.

In other words, telecommuting is for the extremely self-disciplined.  If you feel like you can handle it, read this article about how sell your boss on making the change.

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By: Candace Corner

CareerBuilder.com

The Office Cubicle

Cubicles are getting a makeover…again

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By: Candace Corner  CareerBuilder.com

“Systems furniture” (a.k.a. the cubicle) has seen a lot of chances since the original conception by Robert Propst in 1968. 

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When Propst released his vision, he was working as the director of research at Herman Miller, and created the world’s first “Action Office,” stepping away from the bullpen format that was being used by most of America’s offices.  Today, over 70% of those offices use cubicles, spaces that have gotten smaller, shorter or just bizarre as time has gone by.

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But as today’s workers are taking advantage of their flex hours and office technology has shrunk from bulky computers to laptops and sleek designs, the cubicle is changing as well.  My Studio Environments – an innovation by the same company that brought the original designs that were manipulated into the cubes we occupy today – is setting a new standard for office settings.

My Studio Environments are pods that feature horseshoe shaped desks with a brushed steel frames and clear plastic.  Sliding low partitions replace high walls, and a sliding door creates allows the user to create more or less privacy depending on what they want. 

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The back-to-the-aisle design has been replaced and favored for a side-to-aisle format.  Gone are the days of getting surprised out of your skin anytime someone stops by to borrow your stapler. 

At an estimated $4,000 per unit, ditching the traditional cubicle won’t come cheap.

The Reasons Why You Don’t Hear Back From Recruiters

Ever wonder why some recruiters have never called you back? Self-proclaimed “searchologist” Jim Stroud, uncovered some the possible reasons and wrote about them on his blog. 

Stroud’s tips include networking into the company to get beyond the millions of responses they get, using keywords to make your resume more relevant in the search, and looking for automated company responses to insure your resume isn’t a victim of an employer’s spam filter.

And what can you do if all else fails?  If your accomplishments have been featured in your industry’s trade publication or your expertise credited elsewhere, pass the information along to that network.  If the hiring manager is on the lookout for a star candidate, that could be your ticket in.

By Candace Corner   CareerBuilder.com

Got something to say?

Sometimes the aspects of your job are so unbelievably awful (or incredibly amazing) that it’s pretty much all you can talk about.   But whether you love it or hate it, talking about it incessantly can be annoying for everyone around you, and if all you can offer are complaints while you’re talking to the wrong people, it could cost you your job. 

If your job gives you a reason to wake up every morning or makes you stare at the clock, dreading every minute goes by, go here to share it with like-minded people.  A rave-review could expand your network and if resentment is all you can offer, at least you can warn others about the drawbacks and start your new search with links right from the site.   

By: Candace Corner   CareerBuilder.com

Find a Job This Fall

More Likely to Find a Job This Fall

If you’re in hot pursuit of your perfect job, but still having trouble finding something this summer, our studies show that you may have a better chance this coming fall.  We just released a new survey on job recruitment and job changing trends and here’s what we found:

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HIRING HIGHLIGHTS

"As economic growth shows signs of moderating, job creation levels in the US have dipped in recent months. While some employers are proceeding with caution in terms of

recruitment plans, others are expecting an uptick in hiring in the fall,” said

Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder.com. “One-third of hiring managers say they are

allocating more money to their recruitment budgets in the second half of the year,

compared to the first half. Forty-seven percent of hiring managers expect to add

headcount in the third quarter, while 13 percent plan to eliminate staff.”

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Amount of Employees Being Hired

While half of hiring managers plan to hire less than 10 new employees, three-in-ten

expect to add more than 20 and one-in-five expect to add more than 50.

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Hiring Cycle

Hiring managers continue to struggle with finding qualified candidates. Twenty-two

percent of hiring managers say it takes them one to two months to fill an open position,

while 11 percent spend two to three months. One-in-ten hiring managers surveyed say

their hiring cycles run three months or longer.

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Most Popular Positions for Recruitment

The leading areas for job requisitions in the upcoming quarter include healthcare, sales,

customer service, information technology, retail and accounting/finance. In terms of job

level, recruiting for professional and technical workers is poised to remain strong.

Thirty-four percent of hiring managers say they plan to add professional and technical

staff members during the third quarter. Fifteen percent expect to recruit employees for

manager, director and senior executive level positions, up from 12 percent last quarter.

Sixteen percent plan to recruit for administrative and clerical employees, down from 19

percent last quarter.

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Most Popular Resources Used to Recruit

Hiring managers are employing a variety of tools to find qualified candidates, with online

resources ranking most popular. Twenty-eight percent of hiring managers surveyed said

they use online resources most often to find qualified candidates, compared to 23 percent

who use newspaper classifieds, 19 percent who rely on employee referrals and 10 percent

who use professional recruiters.

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JOB CHANGES

Plans to Change Jobs in Q3 2006

Close to one-in-five workers plan to take advantage of the tightening labor market and

change jobs in the next six months. One-in-ten plan to do so in the third quarter.

The current labor conditions are driving up the number of workers who are passively

looking for a new job. Fifty-seven percent of workers report they are not actively

searching for a new position, but would be open to a new job if they came across the right

opportunity.

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Survey Methodology

The survey, "Q3 2006 Job Forecast," (download pdf) was conducted from June 6 to June 16, 2006. Methodology used to collect survey responses totaling more than 2,200 workers for this

study involved selecting a random sample of comScore Networks panel members. These

Web Panel members were approached via an e-mail invitation, which asked them to

participate in a short online survey. The results of this survey are statistically accurate to

within +/- 2.08 percentage points (19 times out of 20). Note: this sample included more

than 1000 hiring managers. The results for the hiring managers are statistically accurate

to within +/- 3.65 percentage points (19 times out of 20).

By: Candace Corner   CareerBuilder.com