According to a recent survey by Execunet, 83.2 percent of recruiters admitted
to using online search engines in 2007 to uncover information about candidates.
Of these recruiters, 43 percent admitted to eliminating candidates based on the
negative information they found. To avoid any potential conflicts in your job search, here are some preemptive
measures you can take to help clean up your digital footprint: 1) Google Yourself Routinely: Analyze your results to ensure that
nothing unsavory is floating on the web. If you discover something that you want
to have removed, send an e-mail to the host website asking that your information
be deleted. 2) Hire Professional Assistance: If you don't have the time or
know-how to effectively clean-up your online profile, hire a professional
service such as reputationdefender.com to help with the task. 3) Develop a Powerful Personal PR Profile: Just as bad press can
seriously damage your job search, an abundance of positive web entries will help
to impress potential employers. Write a blog, comment on a blog or build a
personal website that highlights your professional accomplishments and
expertise.
Interested in securing a telecommuting arrangement at your job? Here are four tips to help you successfully prepare to discuss this option with your employer: (excerpted from our instantly downloadable e-guide, FlexJobs: Your Work, Your Life, Your Way! )
1. Investigate Company Policy: Look at the policies and procedures manual for any written telecommuting guidelines. If there are none, make an appointment to speak with the Human Resources department and get their input. Many companies don't have official policies on this issue, so be sure to check with other employees to get a sense of how the "unofficial" policy works.
2. Be Specific About What You Want: Carefully analyze your needs before approaching your boss about a telecommuting arrangement. It's best to come up with a few workable alternatives - your boss will prefer a well-thought out series of options over a "yes or no" ultimatum.
3. Prepare, prepare, prepare: Before meeting with your boss, get your facts in order. Think about your proposal from the company's standpoint and be prepared to explain how your job will still get done when you telecommute. Write a thorough proposal outlining your request , put it away for a few weeks, and then read it again. Anticipate objections your boss might have and practice your responses to those objections.
4. Select a strategically advantageous time for your meeting: While no time is perfect, most managers have periods during the day (or week ) when they are more easily accessible than others. Schedule your meeting for a time when you are least likely to be interrupted -- early mornings or after five o'clock tends to be best for most managers.
As a career coach, I have the honor of helping my clients discover their inner passions, motivating values and lifestyle needs. Part of that discovery process involves asking key questions to help clarify and expand their world of possibilities.
I hope to have the opportunity to work with many of you in the near future to help craft your new career, but in the meantime, here is a sampling of questions for you to ponder on your own:
1) If you could make a documentary about any subject, what topic would you choose? Think about what your response reveals about your core values, areas of interest and personal belief system. Does your answer provide any insights into specific areas of interest that you should study further?
2) Who are the three people you admire most? As you think about the people you selected, analyze your choices to see if there are any personal traits, values or job characteristics that these three people share in common. Examine the common threads in their profiles for clues to the attributes you would like to replicate in your own life.
3) What would you like your obituary to say? While it is never pleasant to think about your own demise, writing your obituary can be a life-affirming experience. What does your fictitious obituary say about your personal relationships, work achievements, community contributions or personal triumphs? If you're not happy with how your obituary reads today, what steps do you need to take to ensure your actual obituary will reflect a life and a legacy that you will be proud to call your own?
4) Describe your ideal work day: Write about what time you would get up, if you would exercise, the types of people you would work around and the assortment of activities you would complete during the course of the day. Be thorough and include detail about the clothes you would wear, the work environment you'd prefer, and even the food you'd like to eat during the course of the day. Think about how what you wrote compares to the realities of your current life and decide on action steps to better align your life with your "perfect" vision.
5) What did you love to do as a child and why did you love it? Okay, so this is really two questions, but it is important to answer both. Did you enjoy performing at your parent's parties? Play beautician with your friends? Read books about horses? Make a list of your favorite activities and then write down why you loved doing each one. After you've completed both lists, analyze your responses to see if any consistent themes emerge.
Do you have some insightful questions to add to this list? Add your favorites to the list on our blog.
The US Government provides some of the most extensive sources of career information available on the internet. Whether you are looking to make a career change, want information about starting your own business or need assistance with growing your small business, there is a site for you. Below I have listed some of my favorite resources:
CAREER CHANGE
This is an extraordinarily comprehensive site where you can research wages and employment trends, occupational requirements, state by state labor market conditions, millions of employer contacts nationwide, and peruse the most extensive career resource library online.
Updated every two years by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Occupational Outlook Handbook details job responsibilities, educational requirements, and outlook information for a wide range of occupations.
Occupational Outlook Quarterly
Besides providing occupational outlook predictions, the Quarterly has several very useful article archives, including a section called, You’re a What?, that provides information about unusual occupations and career paths.
START/GROW YOUR OWN BUSINESS
US Small Business Administration
A mega site filled with resources for both the novice and seasoned entrepreneur.
The Online Women's Business Center
Created through a public-private partnership between the US Small Business Administration and private corporations, this site offers everything from individual counseling by e-mail to the most comprehensive information on how to secure financing, contracts and grants for your business. Tremendously useful site.
I recently received an e-mail from a single mom who is worried about losing her job as a result of her excessive absences from work. First, this poor woman endured a series of personal health issues (pneumonia, ruptured spinal disk, etc.) which resulted in her missing three weeks of work. Since August, her 12 year-old daughter has taken sick with a variety of illnesses, ranging from strep to bronchitis to ear infections.
To date, her boss has been remarkably understanding, but my reader is understandably concerned that her boss will soon run out of patience.
She writes, "I don't how much longer they are going to put up with me not being there. I’m sure there are other single moms that have sickly children and have gone through this. Do you know if there is anything I can do to insure I won’t lose my job, because my daughter keeps getting sick?"
Nancy's reply: I wish I could give you a fail-safe solution that would "ensure" you don't lose your job, but unfortunately there is no magic bullet for dealing with this issue. Employers pay you to work and excessive absenteeism can eventually lead to termination.
But all is not hopeless and you have a number of things working in your favor that could limit the impact of your absetneeism. Your personal absences were due to conditions that have now been resolved, so presumbably that should limit your absenteeism in the futurre. Even more important, your boss has demonstrated a willingness to work with you and clearly values you as a hard-working employee.
Hopefully, your daughter's health issues will soon be behind her as well. But, since sore throats and the like are inevitable, now is a good time to discuss possible "sick-day solutions" with your employer.
Thank your employer for their understanding and let them know how much you appreciate their support. Emphasize that while you don't expect to have excessive absence in the future, that you'd like to have a plan in place that will help minimize work disruptions in the event of any absences in the future. Perhaps you can arrange to work from home when needed with a company laptop or home computer. Alternatively, you could suggest working extra hours during evenings and weekends. Your employer might have some suggestions as well as to the best way to manage this situation going forward.
Readers, what say you? How have you handled the working mom - sick child dilemma at your job?
In my work with clients to help develop more fulfilling career paths, I am always on the lookout for new sources of information about emerging market trends and exciting homebased business opportunities. Whether you are a budding entrepreneur or looking for a new corporate career direction, these resources can help you identify exciting pockets of opportunity in our ever-changing economy. Here are five very useful online guides:
1) Occupational Outlook Handbook: The Occupational Outlook Handbook is a nationally recognized source of career information, designed to provide valuable assistance to individuals making decisions about their future work lives. The Handbook, which is based on data compiled by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics is revised every two years.
2) Entrepreneur Magazine: At the start of each year, Entrepreneur magazine publishes an article about hot new business ideas for the upcoming year. For 2007, some of the ideas include niche gyms, nonmedical health care and transition services for seniors, eco-friendly products and dessert-only restaurants.
3) Career Voyages: Another useful resource funded by our tax dollars, this site is designed to provide information on high growth, in-demand occupations along with the skills and education needed to attain those jobs. An excellent resource for both parents and students alike.
4) Hot Health Care Careers: Without a doubt, health care is one of the hottest fields in our economy. There are literally hundreds of rewarding careers in medicine and healthcare. This site provides very comprehensive information about an array of health professions.
5) America's Hottest Jobs: Money magazine publishes articles on different aspects of this topic several times a year. Articles included in this collection include The New, New Careers, The Hottest Spots for Knowledge Workers and The Hottest Salaries.
People are always asking me if there is a complete list of "mom-friendly" companies. While there is no one comprehensive list, you can piece together some good information about quality employers through a variety of publications.
I caution you to interpret these lists with a healthy dose of skepticism (click here to read a blog article titled, How Solid is Working Mother's Seal of Approval?). Not every company selected for these lists are uniformly wonderful. Some have great mentoring programs for women (while skimping on flexible work options), some offer on-site daycare (but only at their headquarters locations) and others offer nice extras like concierge services (but still expect their employees to travel at a moments notice).
Even if these lists aren't perfect, they do give you a glimpse into the benefits of working for a variety of firms. Beyond Working Mother's list, here are some other resources to consult:
100 Best Companies to Work for in America: Fortune offers different lists of the most admired companies to work for.
50 Best Companies for Latinas to Work for in the U.S.: Special report from Latina Style identifies companies with special programs and benefits for Hispanic working women.
Forbes - The 200 Best Small Companies: This list features growing small companies.
Employee Ownership 100: By definition, companies that are majority owned by employees are employee-friendly. Check out the list provided by the National Center for Employee Ownership of the largest U. S. companies with over 50% owned by a broad employee ownership plan such as an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) or a stock purchase plan.
In addition to these national lists, local publications (such as The Washingtonian for the Washington D.C. area or Carolina Parenting for Charlotte, NC) periodically run articles about their top picks for family-friendly companies in specific geographic areas. If you're unsure what is available in your local area, just try inputting "family-friendly companies" and the name of your city, into one of the major search engines.
Every once in a while I read about a "hot" workplace trend that makes me stand back and shudder. Such was the case this morning when I learned about a a new national survey that revealed that 10% of U.S employees say their company has used email to fire or lay off employees. And 17% indicated their boss used emails to avoid other difficult face-to-face conversations. The national survey of 752 US workers was conducted in May and June 2007 by Harris Interactive for The Marlin Company.
I was an HR Director for almost a decade and during that time I had to deal with laying off employees. It's a nasty job -- one that made my stomach turn and lose sleep at night. But no matter how dreaded the task, I just can't imagine how any company can justify handling this job by e-mail. It is cowardly, irresponsible and immoral.
Through my work on Layoffsurvivalguide.com , I have met hundreds of people who have been laid-off. Until you've been through the experience yourself, it is difficult to understand the fear and uncertainty that accompanies this process.
Companies should be working towards helping these former employees, not adding to their challenges. I certainly hope the public outrage against this dehumanizing corporate action will be strong enough to shame these companies and force them to reconsider their misguided policies.
A friend of mine has a notepad on her refrigerator that reads, "Stop Me Before I Volunteer Again!" Indeed, that is a familiar sentiment to many moms at this time of year. We like to be of service, but our time is so limited.
If you've been feeling conflicted about your volunteer obligations, consider "targeted volunteering." Instead of waiting for people to approach you about chairing the bake sale committee, think proactively and seek out challenging assignments with organizations that really interest you.
You'll be happier -- they'll benefit from your hard work -- and in the process, you'll gain new skills, contacts and experiences to help bolster your resume:
1. Chair a committee for your professional association: One of my clients did this when she was trying to break into the field of training and development and within two years she was elected president of her local chapter of ASTD -- a great credential to mention when pitching new business.
2. Accept volunteer assignments with organizations that are aligned with your career interests: Thinking about becoming a teacher? Volunteer at your child's school and learn more about the day-to-day challenges of being a teacher. Interested in grant-writing? Seek out opportunities to write a grant for a local community agency.
3. Run for President: As president of a volunteer organization you'll have opportunities to polish your management, public-speaking and long-range planning skills. This is a smart way to add relevant leadership skills to your resume, without having to wait for your boss to promote you.
4. Join a Board: Volunteer to serve on the board of directors of a high-profile organization. The people you'll meet will help broaden your sphere of knowledge and influence and you'll enhance your management skills at the same time.
5. Be a role-model for your child: I can still remember the pride I felt when my mom served as the PTA president and spoke in front of the whole school at assembly time. Even if you can only spare a few hours during the school year, your children are bound to love having your presence in the classroom or on a field trip -- and you'll be teaching them an important lesson about the value of volunteering in the process.