General

Job Search Scams

May 25, 2012 by Tim McMahon

Unfortunately, the economy and job situations are suffering. When times are hard, unemployment is high and people are desperate, this is the perfect opportunity for others to take advantage of you. Some scams include stealing form your account to having you work for one day and then firing you. An example is a company looking for a ‘marketing rep’ calls you once you apply for the position. They tell you they want you to come in immediately. They make it a big deal and say that there are many candidates and they want to make a decision fast. Once they get you into the office, they complete the interview and tell you that you are great and to come back for a second interview. This second interview requires you to ride along with a salesman ‘to get a better idea’, four hours later you are helping him go , door to door. Once you realize this is not what you want to do it’s too late. You just worked for free.

So before you apply for a job, attend an interview or accept a job review these tips to prevent being a victim of a job scam.

The Online Business Scam:

Job Seekers Awaiting Their Turns Patiently—jobsdbmalaysia (Flickr.com)

A job scam can be found anywhere; however scammers find it easiest to find their victims online. Online job boards don’t have many filters and that means scammers can get away with more. Large job sites like Monster.com and Indeed.comtry their best to monitor but are not always able to keep up with new scams.

This is why it is important when you search online to keep in mind: [Read more…] about Job Search Scams

What to Look for in an Online Degree Program

May 7, 2012 by Guest Contributor

Even with rising Education costs and high unemployment rates it still pays to have a college degree. (See: The Difference a Degree Makes in Unemployment Levels) One way to save a lot of money on your education is to use an online degree program. Many “Bricks and Mortar” Universities are offering on-line degrees as well in an effort to expand their student body without having to build additional buildings. So both the student and the University benefits. You can even work while taking classes because most online degrees do not require you to be present at a specific time so you can view the lectures and do the homework at a time that fits your schedule. Tim McMahon~ editor

Online Degree Programs

Through the power of the Internet, people can actually spend their entire time in “college” from the comfort of their homes. Degrees from Accounting to Zoology can be earned entirely online. But you need to be cautious.

For those looking to get an online education, it can be tough to determine which schools are legit in offering a certified degree and which are simply out to just steal your money. Also, even if they do offer a degree is it actually worth the time and money or is it not worth the paper that it was printed on? Let’s take a look at what you should look for when researching these online degree programs. [Read more…] about What to Look for in an Online Degree Program

Employment vs. Unemployment

May 5, 2012 by Tim McMahon

Employment – Unemployment

Employment vs. unemployment… You would think that they are two sides of the same coin. But when it comes to government stats they may not be.

The government uses two entirely different surveys to calculate Employment and Unemployment and as we will see since 2010 they have started to paint entirely different pictures. A few days ago we looked at how an independent organization (Gallup poles) is now tracking unemployment rates and how the government numbers appear to be understating the level of unemployment. Today we will look at the government’s own numbers and how they don’t even agree with each other… giving more evidence that the government is slanting the data. [Read more…] about Employment vs. Unemployment

Median Weekly Earnings $764

January 24, 2012 by Tim McMahon

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the results of their 4th quarter 2011 wage and salary survey today. Data on usual weekly earnings are collected as part of the Current Population Survey, a nationwide sample survey of households in which respondents are asked, among other things, how much each wage and salary worker usually earns. The BLS surveyed a representative sample of the 101.5 million full-time wage and salary workers and determined that the mean (not seasonally adjusted) earnings were $764 per week. Annualized that would be $39,728.

Wages varied by race, gender, age group and profession. As would be expected, persons employed full time in management, professional, and related occupations had the highest median weekly earnings with men earning $1,274 and women earning $946. Men and women employed in service jobs earned the least, $578 and $440, respectively.

Education also played a part in the median wages. Full-time workers age 25 and over without a high school diploma had median weekly earnings of $444, compared with $641 for high school graduates (no college) and $1,158 for those holding at least a bachelor’s degree.

Wages also varied by age with the highest wages going to those in the oldest age group. Among men, those age 55 to 64 had the highest median weekly earnings at $1,029. While those slightly younger ,45 to 54 had the second highest at $993.

Earnings by race are also tracked, with Asians having the highest median wages at $880, Whites at $786, Blacks at $621, and Hispanics at $534. These numbers do not take into consideration education, language abilities or occupation. Women had median weekly earnings of $688, or 81.6 percent of the $843 median for men. White women earned 81.4 percent as much as their male counterparts, black women earned 91.1 percent as much as their male counterparts, Asian women earned 80.3 percent as much as their male counterparts and Hispanic women women earned 90.4 percent as much as their male counterparts. Interestingly if you take 80.3% of the Asian male wage you get $706 for Asian women which is more than the $621 for Black men.

The BLS uses the “Mean” rather than the average. A “Mean” determines the amount the middle person in a group makes. So if you have five people earning $10,000, $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 and $50,000 the mean would be $30,000. In this example the average would also be $30,000. But the reason the BLS uses the mean is because it eliminates the effects of high income wage earners. For instance if you have five different wage earners earning $10,000, $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 and then you have Mitt Romney earning $21 Million. The mean is still $30,000 but the average is $4,220,000.

Work Ethic Initiatives

July 28, 2011 by Tim McMahon

The Importance of a Good Work Ethic

Employees with a good strong work ethic are critical to the success of a business. One of the key factors employers look for when hiring new employees is a good work ethic… it can be as important if not more important than experience or education.

What is a Good Work Ethic?

There’s a variety of factors that make up a good work ethic including:

Initiative:

Does the employee do things just because they need to be done rather than waiting to be told to do it?

Dependability:

Does he do what he says he is going to?

Honesty:

Can you trust him?

Responsibility:

Does he blame others or take responsibility for his actions?

Quality:

Does he take pride in her work or just do enough to get by?

Respect:

Does he respect others and can others respect him?

Teamwork:

Can he work with others and get the job done.

And finally…

Leadership:

Does he possess leadership qualities and are others willing to follow his lead?

An exceptionally good work ethic can even take an entry-level employee making less than $30,000 per year to full partner in less than three years as we will see…