Mayor Who Added Jobs Lost Some, Too

In the midst of a downturn, New York City has 131,000 more jobs than it had when Michael R. Bloomberg became mayor. But many of them pay less than jobs that have been lost.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/nyregion/15jobs.html

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Fifty-eight percent believe employers are less concerned about employee retention, and 50 percent of workers are more concerned about top performers leaving than before the recession.

Are you Disconnected?

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Jobless Report Is Worse Than Expected; Rate Rises to 9.8%

The American economy lost 263,000 jobs in September, the government reported, dimming the prospect of any meaningful job growth by the end of the year.

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Surveys Show Workers Are Ready To Make Changes

A raft of recent surveys shows that the recession is having a profound impact on workers and employment trends worldwide. Even though they measure different things — global hiring, immigration repatriation, and career trends — there’s a theme here, which is that the economy is global and when it recovers, things will not go back to the way they were.

There’s the report from Monster this week that says vast numbers of workers are ready to switch careers for a new job. Another survey, this one from SearchPath International and Antal International, give us a global view of hiring — and firing — trends.

The Global Snapshot offers clues to where the hottest markets in the world are for managers and professionals. (Hint: Think Russia, China, India, Egypt, and Eastern Europe.)

That report dovetails with last week’s USA Today report about an emerging brain drain of managers and professionals from the U.S. to China and India.

Vivek Wadhwa

Vivek Wadhwa, executive in residence at Duke University and a senior research associate at Harvard University, surveyed some 1,200 immigrants who returned to their native country. He reports that improved opportunities at home, coupled with U.S. visa policies, makes it likely that up to 200,000 white collar migrants will return to China and India in the next five years.

A UPI version of the story includes this comment from Wang Baodong, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington: “China needs a lot of well-trained personnel.”

No surprise there, especially no surprise after you peek at The Global Snapshot report that says 74 percent of the surveyed companies in China report they are hiring skilled managers and other white collar professionals now. Also not surprisingly, the report commentary notes that there has been a better than 10 percent rise in the companies shedding workers, which the report notes, suggests “that employers are taking advantage of current conditions to ‘weed out’ less productive members of staff.”

Other hot Asian markets for these same workers: Singapore, Pakistan and Hong Kong. India is bit less robust with 51 percent of the surveyed companies hiring now. But give it a quarter and 66 percent say they’ll be looking for managers and professionals.

In the U.S., 55 percent of respondents report hiring, with the same percentage planning to hire next quarter.

The recession has also got workers thinking that it may be wise to find a new career.

Monster released a poll of workers in North America and Europe showing 89 percent of them would consider or would make a career change if it meant finding a new job. While only 11 percent of the 22,444 visitors to Monster’s sites in Europe, Canada, or the U.S. said they wouldn’t change careers — at least not now — 49 percent said they’ve been wanting to change careers and are ready now.

In Spain, 92 percent of the visitors to the Monster site who took the poll said they were ready to make a career change. They’re feeling the pressure; 44 percent said they feel they must take the first job that comes along. That percentage contrasts sharply with respondents elsewhere, only 23 percent of whom felt they needed to pretty much take anything.

No doubt those who visit Monster sites are motivated job seekers, and probably more willing to switch industries than those who aren’t looking. But when half of those taking the poll answer the question, “Would you consider a job in another industry?” with a “Yes, I’ve been wanting to make a career change,” you can figure that change is underway.

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Question: I have a BS in Electrical Engineering, and would like to
pursue a career in engineering design in the renewable energy field.
I have worked as an equipment support engineer in the semiconductor
industry for the past 9 years.  I haven’t been using design since I
graduated.  I am either considering furthering my education or
applying right away to a renewable energy co.  Any suggestions on a
plan to get to this new career path would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for your help, Paul

Answer: You need to convince a Renewable Energy company that you have the knowledge and experience to be a design engineer. It will be difficult for you to do this with your current level of experience and education (not impossible but very difficult).You will be competing against Electrical Engineers that have experience in engineering design within the renewable energy field and 90% of the time have Masters or PhD’s in Electrical Engineering. How do you outshine your competition?

Here is what I recommend. Since your experience is in equipment support, why not apply to an equipment support position within the renewable energy field? This will gain you experience within the industry. I’ve seen a demand for equipment support for Solar Cells and Wind Turbines.

Solar: http://career-advisor.jobamatic.com/a/jobs/find-jobs/q-Solar+Field+Service+Technician

Wind: http://career-advisor.jobamatic.com/a/jobs/find-jobs/q-Wind+Field+Service+Technician

I think that if you work in a position like this for 5 years within the Renewable Energy industry and then acquire a Masters in Electrical Engineering you will be a very good candidate for a Design position within Renewable Energy. This plan may not fulfill your goal immediately but may get you there within 5 years if you go to school at night. 

Question: I am 21yrs old and totally lost. It’s like I don’t know where my
career which I am currently studying is going to lead me. I am currently studying Information Technology.

Answer: When you’re lost it’s often best to try to visualize your future. There are many paths that you can go down that will lead you in different directions.

Where do you want to be in 5 years? Where do you want to be in 10 years? Do you want to be married? Do you want to have children? Where do you want to be living? Will your current career get you there? Last but not least, will you be happy when you get there? Your career makes up a huge portion of your day. It’s a nice thing when you enjoy it.

Career Assessments may help you in figuring these things out.

Live Career offers a Free Online Career Test but your email address will be shared with companies trying to sell you something. You may want to create a separate email address for this first.

One of the most well known is Kuder. The Kuder Career Planning System has become the solution of choice for individuals around the world when it comes to identifying their interests, exploring their options, and planning for career success. The easy-to-use and completely customizable Internet-based system combines research-based interests, skills, and work values assessments with portfolio development, comprehensive education and career exploration capabilities along with powerful administrative database management. The Association of Computer-Based Systems for Career Information (ACSCI) standards committee has granted the Kuder CareerPlanning System with compliance at the Comprehensive (National System) Level.

Good Luck in finding your dreams.

Question: I’m 23 and I went for a marketing degree in undergrad because
that’s what my Dad pushed me to do. But I realize now I would really
like to become a therapist or psychologist and help people with their
issues. So…
1. Is it possible for me to get into any grad-programs with my
degree.
2. Any advice as to what to do next would be appreciated.

Answer: It’s never too late to reinvent yourself.

Your first question:

Is it possible for me to get into any grad-programs with my
degree?

It sounds like you are interested in Clinical Psychology. Kendra Van Wagner has written a great Careers in Clinical Psychology guide that you should look at.

What Is Clinical Psychology?:

Clinical psychology is concerned with the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders. While they often work in medical settings, clinical psychologists are not medical doctors and do not prescribe medications. Clinical psychology is the largest subfield within psychology. Specialty areas within clinical psychology include child mental health, adult mental health, learning disabilities, emotional disturbances, substance abuse, geriatrics and health psychology.

What Type of Degree Do Clinical Psychologists Need?:

While some individuals find work with a master’s degree, most positions require a doctoral degree in clinical psychology. Some graduate programs accepts applicants with undergraduate degrees in other disciplines, but most encourage students to get a bachelor’s in psychology before pursuing graduate study in clinical psychology.There are two major training models for doctoral degrees. The traditional Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (Ph.D.) emphasizes the role of the research and science. The Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) degree is primarily focused on clinical and practitioner work. Psy.D. programs are attractive to many students because they typically take approximately a year less time to complete than a Ph.D. On the other hand, Ph.D. programs tend to provide better funding of graduate students.

The last paragraph does say that there are some graduate programs that accept applicants with undergraduate degrees in other disciplines. Will they accept yours? You just have to apply to some programs and see if they will.

Your second question: Any advice as to what to do next?

First read this: Which Psychology Graduate Program Is the Best?

Here is a list of the top Clinical Psychology Graduate programs: http://www.socialpsychology.org/clinrank.htm

Apply, Apply, Apply, Apply, Apply, and see who accepts you.

Good luck and maybe you can be my therapist someday:) 

Question: My last place of employment lasted 4 years. The first 3 were great. I received a number of awards for my work during that period.

The last year I was there a new supervisor came on board. I was not
able to please her no matter how I did my work. October of last year I
ended up leaving the company. I offered a two week notice but was told she didn’t need it. Since then I have been unable to secure a new position. No doubt because of what employers are being told by my previous supervisor. Help!

Answer: This is always a difficult situation. Lets face it, we are never going to please everyone.

You will need to have reference for that position but you may not need to use that manager. Is there another manager that will give you a good reference? Maybe someone in that you knew in a different department that knew of your work? If not, a senior coworker may suffice to some employers if that person was in a senior position and can explain that to your potential employer.

Be sure that you ask any reference if they’re willing to be a reference for you. If you get any resistance from the person it may be an alarm that they will be a bad reference.