January 2017 |
Transition-e-news Volume 4 Issue 126 |
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Know Thyself© Tom Wolfe, author; all rights reserved; excerpts from Out of Uniform: Your Guide to a Successful Military-to-Civilian Career Transition; used with the permission of the author and publisher, www.potomacbooksinc.com. Know Thyself For most military personnel, the career transition process is as much about self-education as it is about finding a job. During my career I have discovered that approximately fifty percent of the people who leave the military to pursue civilian employment end up working for companies unknown to them when their searches began. Furthermore, they accept positions about which they initially had little or no knowledge. Why does this happen? One explanation is that most military personnel have little exposure to the private sector prior to joining the service. With a few exceptions (military-sponsored graduate school, education-with-industry, defense program management, etc.), this lack of exposure continues throughout their time in the military. The result is a lack of information about their options. This lack of knowledge is one of the largest obstacles in the military-to-civilian employment transition. How can one answer the question, What do you want to do? without even knowing the choices? Most military personnel base their knowledge of the business world on their experiences as consumers. They are very familiar with companies that brand their products or services and aggressively promote that brand to build recognition in the market place. Most of us are familiar with Intel, Xerox, The Home Depot, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, and General Electric. Very few recognize names like Applied Materials, Marsh & McLennan, SAIC, and Xcel. On the surface, you might think you will prefer to work for one of the former, but with better information, you might decide that one of the latter is better for you. Here’s another way to look at this—just because you have never heard of that company does not mean you cannot work there. Regarding job categories, among those making the transition from military to civilian careers, there may be a certain amount of familiarity with titles like technician, supervisor, production manager, sales representative, and project engineer. However, titles such as business analyst, program manager, consultant, and brand manager might be less familiar. If you are not careful, that familiarity could predispose you to the former category. Nothing wrong with those jobs, of course, but you should allow for the possibility that the best job for you just might be in the latter category. Although this choice depends mostly on your training, experience, and personality, you must also consider the importance of exposure. You may feel more comfortable concentrating on the familiar, but doing so will cut your options in half. Educating yourself to companies—known and unknown—and jobs—known and unknown—will improve your odds of finding the right match, the first time. Sounds logical, but now the tough part—how to do this? Here is a good way to start. Much can be said for initially interviewing for everything for which you are qualified, either because you already know you are qualified, or trusted advisors tell you are qualified, or an employer believes you are qualified. As you learn more about these options—through research, preparation, and interviews—you will also learn more about yourself. Your level of interest in each will start to clarify and an elimination process will begin. Cross off the job categories that do not interest you and focus on those that do. This process works both ways. If you are rejected every time you interview for a particular type of job, maybe you should reconsider your suitability for that position. A certain amount of this self-education process occurs before the interviewing phase of the job search begins. Although reading, information interviews, and informal discussions with family members and friends can give you a sense of what is out there, for most people it is the actual interview that produces the most important information. One way to view this phenomenon is to consider a job hunt as an information gathering and self-knowledge enhancement process, a by-product of which is the job offer you really want! © 2016; Tom Wolfe, is an author, columnist, career coach, veteran, and an expert in the field of military-to-civilian career transition. During his career he assisted thousands of service members in their searches for employment, placing more than 3000 in their new jobs. Prior to civilian life, he graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy and served as a surface warfare officer. He teaches transition courses, gives seminars on career and job change, writes about the career transition process, and continues to counsel current and former military personnel. His book, Out of Uniform: Your Guide to a Successful Military-to-Civilian Career Transition, was published by Potomac Books in 2011. Tom lives on the North Carolina coast with his wife, Julie, and their Chesapeake Bay retriever, Maggie. |
US adds 156,000 jobs in final snapshot of economy under Obama
by Christopher Rugaber | Associated Press | Reprinted with permission ©
Stars and Stripes WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added 156,000 jobs in December, capping a year of slower but solid hiring and providing the last major snapshot of the economy President-elect Donald Trump will inherit from President Barack Obama. Friday's report from the Labor Department portrayed a job market that remains durable 7½ years after the recovery from the Great Recession began. Though the unemployment rate rose to to 4.7 percent from a nine-year low of 4.6 percent, it did so for an encouraging reason: More people began looking for work. Because not all of them found jobs immediately, more people were counted as unemployed in December. Hourly pay jumped 2.9 percent from a year earlier, the biggest increase in more than seven years. That is a positive sign that the low unemployment rate is forcing some businesses to offer higher wages to attract and keep workers. Sluggish growth in Americans' paychecks has been a longstanding weak spot in the seven-year economic recovery. For all of 2016, job growth averaged 180,000 a month, down from 229,000 in 2015, but enough to lower unemployment over time. Hiring last month was led by the health care sector, which added 43,000 jobs, mostly in doctors' offices and hospitals. Manufacturing resumed hiring after four months of job cuts, adding 17,000. Restaurants and bars gained 30,000 positions. Transportation and warehousing, fueled by the growth of online shopping during the holiday season, added 15,000. On the other hand, construction and mining companies shed jobs. A broader gauge of unemployment, which includes part-time workers who would prefer full-time work as well as people who have stopped looking for jobs, dipped to 9.2 percent from 9.3 percent. That's the lowest level since April 2008. Still, weak spots remain in the job market: A smaller share of Americans either have a job or are looking for one than before the recession. That is particularly true for men. Many men, especially those without a college education, have suffered as the job market has shifted away from blue collar work such as manufacturing and mining toward industries that either require higher skills, like information technology, or that pay less and are dominated by women, such as health care. Though the unemployment rate has returned to its pre-recession level, the proportion of Americans in their prime working years who are either working or looking for work remains far below where it was before the recession began. When people stop looking for a job, they're no longer counted as unemployed. Those "dropouts" have contributed to a declining unemployment rate over the past eight years. Trump spotlighted that trend as a shortcoming in Obama's record and charged during the election campaign that the unemployment rate was a "hoax." He now faces the steep challenge of bringing back men who have left the workforce. Since the election, Trump has successfully pressured several manufacturers to keep some jobs in the United States, including Ford and United Technologies' air conditioning unit Carrier. Even so, and despite last month's increase in factory jobs, manufacturing employment declined by 45,000 in 2016. The steady rise in restaurant, hotel and retail jobs has also increased the ranks of part-time workers who would prefer full-time work. Those industries disproportionately hire part-timers. About 5.6 million people work part time but want full-time work, a big improvement since the recession. Yet seven years into the recovery, that figure is still well above pre-recession levels of about 4.4 million. Other recent economic data have been more encouraging. Consumers and small businesses have become more confident since the election, which could lead to increased spending and hiring. And purchases of costly items like homes and cars have been strong, though they're threatened by higher interest rates. But if hiring and wage gains continue, they could offset at least some of the depressive effects of higher borrowing costs. Auto sales rose for a seventh straight year in 2016 to a record high. Industry analysts expect sales to slip a bit this year but to remain at a healthy level.
And home sales reached their highest point in nearly a decade in November. Mortgage rates have jumped since the election but dipped this week, suggesting that rates might level off. |
Avoid These 5 Deadly LinkedIn Mistakes© Copyright, 2016, Susan P. Joyce. All rights reserved. LinkedIn mistakes are too common and can be very damaging. Those errors make a job search more difficult and career success more challenging than it should be. Avoid being one of these unfortunate people by avoiding these 5 common LinkedIn mistakes. LinkedIn Mistakes Too Many People MakePicture a recruiter, who has the perfect job or opportunity for you. This recruiter is desperately looking for you, but they cannot find you. Here’s why… LinkedIn Mistake # 1: Ignoring the SEO power of LinkedIn.Google trusts LinkedIn, so entries from LinkedIn are often at or very near the top of any search on a person’s name — a significant position that leverages both LinkedIn’s reputation and reach. Recruiters and employers search LinkedIn and Google relentlessly (and they search LinkedIn using Google, too). The searches happen usually for two primary reasons:
So the right keywords are essential, and LinkedIn provides almost endless opportunities to include keywords, from the Professional Headline at the top of your Profile (and visible whenever you are active on LinkedIn). People often overlook the Location (current or your target, if you want to move) and Industry fields at the top of their Profile, too, which are both excellent keywords as well as important bits of information for people viewing your Profile. Your Summary, Work Experience, Posts, Projects, Skills and Endorsements, and other LinkedIn Profile sections are perfect places to include your keywords. Simply scanning the list of LinkedIn Profile sections gives you a complete list of keyword categories. Read To Be Hired, Be Found, How to Beat the Resume Black Hole, and Keywords Critical for Your Career for more information. LinkedIn Mistake # 2: Keeping their LinkedIn Profile “private.”It amazes me how many people have taken the time and effort to build a LinkedIn Profile, but then they keep them private. For most professions, a LinkedIn Profile is not optional. That Profile is an essential and credible foundation for your personal online reputation management. LinkedIn is the most respected professional social network, and the goal of having a LinkedIn Profile is to be visible to potential clients/customers, network members, and recruiters/employers. NEVER confuse LinkedIn with Facebook! If you go to the effort of creating a good LinkedIn Profile, what is the point of keeping it “private”? Having a private LinkedIn Profile is like buying airtime on a TV network to run your commercial, and then NOT giving it to the network to run. So, dead air, and major wasted opportunity! The reality is that using the LinkedIn privacy setting only blocks search engines from seeing your Profile (one of the major benefits of a LinkedIn Profile is the search engine visibility). That Profile is still visible inside LinkedIn, primarily to recruiters who purchase the LinkedIn Recruiter service. Read Why Submitting a Resume Isn’t Enough and Privacy vs. Visibility for a Successful Job Search to understand the importance of that search engine visibility today, particularly in Google. LinkedIn Mistake #3: Being inactive.Next to a skimpy Profile with no keywords, inactivity on LinkedIn is another major mistake. As a social network, LinkedIn offers many opportunities for visibility but they do require a bit of effort and attention:
Do pay careful attention to your grammar and spelling. Your professionalism is being demonstrated. LinkedIn is not Facebook. LinkedIn Mistake # 4: Being negative or nasty.Don’t be negative — about a person (even political) or an organization (especially current or former employers). If you don’t like someone’s post or comment, ignore it. Move on. You may think that you are demonstrating your high IQ and your command of the subject with your response, but you won’t be. Rather, you will be showing people your less pleasant side, even if they agree with your points. As a result, you may be viewed as someone who is always negative (because that is what is being demonstrated) and who would not be good to work with. Most employers are looking for someone who will “fit” into their organization and work “nicely with others” (just like in grammar school). So, unless your target job is a critic or nasty comedian, skip the snarky, rude comments. LinkedIn Mistake # 5: Not including contact information.One of the main reasons people join LinkedIn is to expand their network, including with potential employers. So many times, when I’ve searched LinkedIn for someone with specific skills I wanted to hire, I would find a person who appeared qualified. But, their LinkedIn Profile had no contact information, not even an email address. So, they were unreachable unless I wanted to purchase an InMail or spend time researching Google to find another way to reach them. At a minimum, make your personal (not work!) email address visible in your LinkedIn Contact Information, near the top of your Profile (look for the address card icon). Using your personal email address ensures that you won’t lose access to your LinkedIn Profile if you lose your job and access to your work email address. Best, because many recruiters are in a hurry, is to include a phone number. Again, a work phone number is less than ideal in case someone calls you with a job opportunity and your boss or the person at the next desk takes the message for you or overhears the call. Google Voice is a good option since it allows you to have a phone number (at Google) which can then be directed to whatever phone you wish — so you can receive calls on your personal cell phone without making your cell phone number public. Don’t Give Up!Paying attention to your LinkedIn presence will pay many dividends, from new friends across the world to job offers (your next job may find you!). Stay professional, be on your best behavior, and good things will happen. More About LinkedIn for Job Search5 Essential Components of a Successful LinkedIn Profile 3 Bad Assumptions About LinkedIn Today’s Best Job Search Strategies How to Beat the Resume Black Hole Keywords Critical for Your Career About the Author… Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 2011, NETability purchased WorkCoachCafe.com, and Susan has been editor and publisher of WorkCoach since then. Susan also edits and publishes Job-Hunt.org, is a Visiting Scholar at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and a columnist on HuffingtonPost. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg and on Google+ |
US Job Openings, Quits Rise, Pointing to Modest Hiring Aheadby Christopher Rugaber | Reprinted with permission © 2017 The Associated Press Reprinted with Permission WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. employers posted more jobs in November and quitting also increased - signs that job gains and wages may increase in the months ahead. The number of available jobs rose 1.3 percent in November from the previous month to 5.5 million, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That's below a post-recession peak of 5.8 million in April. Hiring rose 1.1 percent to 5.2 million. The number of Americans who quit their jobs increased 1.4 percent to nearly 3.1 million, the second-highest total since the Great Recession. Quits are generally a good sign that workers are confident enough to leave their positions for new jobs. Rising quits can also point to higher pay, since most people take new jobs with bigger paychecks. The figures echo last week's jobs report, which showed a moderate gain of 156,000 new jobs in December and the biggest annual wage gains in more than seven years. Last week's jobs figure is a net gain after layoffs, quits and retirements are subtracted from overall hiring. Tuesday's data comes from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey, or JOLTS, and are more detailed and provide a fuller view of the job market With the unemployment rate at 4.7 percent, near a nine-year low, employers are facing pressure to raise pay in order to keep and attract workers. The number of available jobs is also high, which suggests businesses are having trouble finding the workers they need to fill their open positions. That trend may also force employers to offer bigger paychecks. Job openings rose in only two industries: Hotels and restaurants and state and local government. Openings were little changed or down slightly in manufacturing, construction, retail, financial services, and education and health. |
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