Archive for January, 2009

Friday, January 16th, 2009

The best idea yet for taking advantage of the current downturn: the professional gap year.

What could be better than taking a breather while the rest of the work force is fretting over the next round of cuts? Use the time to figure out what you really want to do.

We know a guy who made a similar move last year. When his employer offered a buyout, he took it with only the vaguest idea of what he would do when he walked out the door.

It all turned out for the best. He didn’t travel the world or minister to lepers in Uganda. But he got back into shape, hung out at the beach and focused on a couple of writing projects that he had long wanted to pursue. Maybe he’ll sell a book, maybe he won’t. But for that one blissful period, he was doing just what he wanted to do. And when he returned to the workforce, his list of regrets was remarkably shorter.

The New York Times suggests that this is part of a trend in a piece that focuses on a doctor who took a year off to explore masonry, antique restoration and traditional Eastern medicine.

Tags: gap year
Posted in News |

Parchment Pays

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

Remember that period in college when you questioned what good that degree in history would be? Now we know: college grads are faring much better in the current employment sweepstakes.

Tags: college degree, employment
Posted in News |

Hidden Opportunities

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009

Tumultuous times have a way of inducing tunnel vision. We can be so worried about the present circumstances around us that we forget about the future, and we forget to look inside, when we consider the next move. Instead of seeking safety, why not look for opportunities in the storm-tossed economy?

The Boston Globe focused this week on small business owners who got their start when they got the boot from a larger firm. “If history offers any indication, the nation’s small business community could experience a growth spurt during this recession,” according to the Globe.

Making the move to professional independence isn’t easy. But small business owners often feel like they have more control over their future, and a greater ability to do work that matters to them.

Tags: down-size, entreprenuer, new start, small business
Posted in News |

Half-full or Half-empty?

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

If your glass is half-empty, getting down-sized in the current economic maelstrom is cause for despair and you might be inclined to join the people featured in this CNN item who took whatever job they could latch onto.

But if it’s half-full, it might be worth checking out this recent U.S. News piece, in which the magazine’s staff reviewed hundreds of careers to determine which ones had the best outlook in a down economy, the most prestige and the best pay. “These careers have staying power. They’re smart moves now, and they’ll be smart moves for years to come.”

Whatever your circumstances, you owe it to yourself to make the smart move.

Tags: desperation, prestige, smart moves
Posted in News |

Green Jobs

Monday, January 12th, 2009

The unemployment rate hit a 16-year high last week, and President-elect Barack Obama moved fast to assuage workers’ fears, saying that his economic recovery plan would create millions of jobs. But what kind of jobs would they be?

If Obama has his way, 500,000 of them will be green energy jobs. His plan would invest in clean energy with the aim of doubling the production of alternative energy over three years and improving energy efficiency, according to the New York Times.

This idea is an outgrowth of Obama’s energy message during the campaign. This older Wall Street Journal article has more on Obama’s energy plan. The jobs would include wind-turbine builders and construction workers who would build greener buildings and upgrade the electrical grid.

If you’ve been dreaming about moving into a job that uses cutting edge technology to make a difference for the environment, our current economic straits may turn out to have a silver lining.

Tags: Green jobs, Obama, unemployment
Posted in News |

Nonprofits – Ports in the Storm

Friday, January 9th, 2009

Hidden inside the Business section of last Sunday’s New York Times was an interesting item that should cheer up any nonprofit employee.

If you have been coveting the speedboat that your friend who works at the big hedge fund bought with his last bonus, or if you are tired of having your stories about camping in the Adirondacks trumped by his wife’s PowerPoint presentation of their Parisian vacation, take heart: at least you still have a job.

The turmoil in the financial markets has been turning bankers into beggars, and workers in the mortgage industry now want to know if you would like fries with that order. But according to numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, hospitals, institutions of higher learning and other not-for-profit entities have been showing some stability in these wobbly times. Read on….

Tags: Nonprofits, stability
Posted in News |

A Crack in the Nest Egg

Thursday, January 8th, 2009

Many older Americans have found themselves in a special predicament in this economic downturn. The markets took their retirement funds down with them, and whatever nest egg they had in their homes has cracked.

They’re thinking about delaying retirement. Or if they have already retired, they’re contemplating a return to the workplace. AARP reported last April that almost one in five people aged 55 to 64 planned to delay retirement — and that was before things went badder than bad in the financial world.

Working later in life has its drawbacks, but as this AP story points out it can also allow you to put off collecting Social Security and make it easier for you to get a new mortgage.

Whether you’re tired of the job you have now or thinking about coming back off the bench, why not make it a job that makes you happy to get out of the bed in the morning?

Do work that matters.

Tags: Retired, return to work
Posted in News |

Political Talk at Work

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

Remember the guy from finance who couldn’t stop braying about George Bush’s victory in 2000? Well now is your chance — the Obama inauguration is later this month. Corner him by the water cooler and give him a piece of your mind. Tick off a few of the highlights from the past eight years. Cheerily offer a few predictions for the eight years to come.

On second thought, don’t.

There’s a saying in Latin America that goes something like, neither politics nor futbol at social gatherings. Sports are probably still safe ground for a little good-natured ribbing at the office, except for within certain zip codes in Massachusetts and Wisconsin. But specialists tell the Washington Post that it’s better to leave your politics at home. Politics is a personal hot zone for many people.

Why muck up a perfectly functional work relationship by bringing up such unpleasantries as war and torture and Hurricane Katrina and the present economic meltdown, etc….?

Tags: Office relations, Politics
Posted in News |

A Second Job?

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

If you were thinking that the economy would make a quick turnaround in 2009, you better think again.

The stock market may have rallied at the start of the new trading year, but a key manufacturing index dropped to a 28-year-low, the Christmas retail numbers were depressing, and even the high-rollers in Vegas seem to be guarding their dice.

In times such as these, when incomes are flat and prices are rising, many people contemplate taking on another job. But if you’re going to work, make it work that matters — to you and to others.

An NPR affiliate in Boston reported on the growing number of people seeking creative ways to augment their income, including a waitress who decided to spend her weekend hours helping others as a home healthcare worker.

The Washington Post is onto the trend, too.

Tags: Economy, healthcare, second job
Posted in News |

Options in a Down Economy

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

A cold, cold wind is blowing through the financial markets, and every day the newspaper seems to bring sad tidings of new layoffs. If you’ve decided that now is the time to search for your dream job, you can still find it. It just may take a little longer than you expected.

In the meantime, you don’t have to stay in a job that you’ve outgrown. There are several options, from contract work to certification programs, that can help you to bridge the gap from the best job you have at the moment to your best job ever.

Michelle Goodman of ABC News points out in her column that you don’t have to be a writer to freelance and you don’t need an MBA to consult. Goodman writes about a friend who got laid off from the mortgage industry and is now happily driving a school bus while she attends business school at night and plots her next career move. We know a guy who escaped the newspaper industry last spring and did just fine as a hack for hire until he found the right job in December.

Anyone strategizing about the next move, and everyone who has been displaced by the shaky economy, should check it out.

Tags: consult, freelance, Temp
Posted in Columns |

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