by Orrin Konheim

Barbara Ehrenreich is my favorite author in the field of economics. She's been a featured columnist in The New York Times and Times Magazine and has written some 15 books. I discovered her through her best selling book "Nickel and Dimed" in which she threw away her writing credentials and posed as an inexperienced worker to see firsthand if she could get by on minimum wage for a year and a half.

In her latest book, "This Land is Their Land," Ehrenreich presents a series of essays on how the lower classes, and even the college educated, has been disenfranchised in this economy.

Here are some excerpts from a great essay of hers "The Shame Game":

"Shame hangs heavy over the economic landscape: The shame of the newly laid off, the shame of the chronically poor..... shame is a verb as well as a noun. Almost nobody arrives at shame on their own...It  may be wiser to think of shame as a relationship rather than just a feeling- a relationship of domination in which the mocking judgments of the dominant are internalized by the dominated.....The ultimate trick is to make people ashamed of the injuries inflicted upon them......

Something similar goes on in the case of the laid off and unemployed, thanks to the prevailing Calvinist form of Protestantism, according to which productivity and employment are the source of one's identity as well as one's income. Not working? Then what are you? And to put the Calvinist message in crude theological terms: Go to Hell.

For those who feel their full measure over unemployment, there is an entire shame industry shame industry to whip them into shape.....Laid off and coming up empty on your job search? You must be too "negative" and hence attracting negative circumstances into your life. To paraphrase one coach I've heard: We're not hear to talk about the economy or the market; we're here to talk about you."

I know this essay sounds overly rebellious and doesn't solve the problem of being out of a job, but what's the lesson here? In the last paragraph:

"Shame is a potent weapon but it should never be used against the already injured and aggrieved. Instead, let's turn it against the aggrievers: Shame on Ford and GM for putting all their eggs in the SUV basket and then laying off thousands. Shame on the CEOs who make eight-figure incomes while their lowest-paid employees trudge between food banks. Shame on Congress for leaving us with an unemployment insurance program that covers only a little more than a third of the laid off.

Everyone else should hold their heads up high."

 

 

 

by Shy Pahvelani

 

Given recent unemployment numbers, our economy's rate of decline has increased substantially.  The unemployment rate is almost at 7%. Can you believe that 7% of this country is sitting around at home struggling to find a job?  To make matters worse, most companies have a budget for their payroll only till the end of 2008.  So after the wonderful holiday season and the New Year most companies that have held off thus far on layoffs will most definitely slash jobs and put a good percentage of their work force out into the streets during such a difficult time period.

 

So what can you do to prepare for the potential lay-offs?  There are 5 survival strategies that any proactive professional MUST keep in mind or can utilize to educate others.  Don't be blind sided when your number comes up.

 

1.  Constantly maintain and improve your resume.  You should always have your resume handy in order to make updates given your month to month accomplishments.  Adding bullets to your resume as you achieve them is more effective then having to update your resume when you are under the pressure of finding a new career. Maintaining a virtual copy of your resume makes this process a lot easier and more scalable. 

 

2.  Maintain a professional online image. This has become increasingly more important as more and more employers are doing Google and Facebook searches for your name to see the information that is revealed. Making sure to have a professional online image can be done by creating a virtual resume on sites like www.uBoast.com and Linked.com.  Although, you still must make sure if you have any social presence on sites like Facebook that you set your privacy settings so that you can only be searched by your friends.   And by creating a virtual resume page online it will allow an employer who is googling your name to be able to view the professional assets that you have exposed through your virtual resume page (view mine at : http://www.uboast.com/vesume.php?p=5&a=192028 ).

 

3.  Do anything and everything to standout to get that job.  As more and more unemployed flood the market, competition for the available positions increases tremendously.  Try doing things that would give you leverage; send a link of your virtual resume page to an employer, try video interviewing with the hiring manager, and even consider shooting a video profile of yourself.  Put your future in your own hands by marketing yourself, as opposed to letting the century old style of an 8 ½ x 11 piece of paper do the work for you.  Rather then sending in a paper resume that gets submitted by the majority of those unemployed, get creative as it will become a survival instinct.

 

4. Networking is the number one method to finding a job.  Don't forget that your next job will most likely come from a referral or a placement through the people you already know.  Be sure to stay in touch with all professionals in your network. Consider allocating about 30 minutes of your day reaching out to old colleagues/friends that you may have lost contact with.  Then spend an additional 30 minutes dedicated to meeting some new professionals in related industries.

 

5.  Utilize all FREE tools that leverage your ability to find the career of your dreams.  Sites like www.uBoast.com are a perfect resource to take advantage of to create your FREE virtual resume, engage in online networking with other professionals, allow your resume to be searched by recruiters and hiring managers, and to get tips/coaching on creating a video resume.  A video resume is innovative and allows you to market your energy level, professionalism, and communication skills.  uBoast.com also contains a job board that is derived from job listings aggregated from thousands of career websites that pulls in all the openings onto one job board making it the ONLY place you will ever need to look to apply for that next step in your life.  Our database now has over 5 million job openings

 

. . . . . . So don't let your resume get washed out of the pile, create a 

virtual resume and stand out from that big crowd.

What does the Receding Economy mean from your Point of View?

 

Uboast insider Fred Siegmund tackles the labor market:

 

Q: With all this news about the stock market crash are things much lower than they used to be in terms of finding a job?

A: The results of the forecasts of recession will take 3 to 6 months to determine, but either way jobs have been doing poorly for several years. Starting from December 2007 seasonally adjusted national establishment employment is down 760,000 jobs.

 

Q: Which types of jobs caused this decline?

A: The decline was a mixture of 673,000 jobs gone in manufacturing, construction and mining, a 296,000 decrease in private sector service jobs, but a 209,000 increase in government services employment, including education.

 

Q: So there's an increase in government jobs?

A: If we back up two years to September 2006 and look at change for the last 24 months then national employment is up 790,000 jobs, but government employment is up 486,000. The government increase in jobs is offsetting lagging job growth or actual declines in other sectors of the economy, which is good news.

 

Q: What other job sectors have improved as of late?

A: Since December 2007 service providing employment is down in wholesale and retail trade, transportation, publishing, broadcasting, telecommunications, finance, insurance, real estate, and selected areas of hospitality, art, entertainment and recreation.

 

Q: What has increased in jobs?

A: Several service areas have continued to increase in jobs, which are government, health care and a selection of professional services. Two-thirds of the government employment increase is jobs in education and the rest in government administration and social services. Among professional services architecture, engineering, computer services and some managerial and technical and social services have current gains and look the best for finding a job in a stagnate market.

 

Q: So for each specific person, what actually determines whether they have a good chance of getting a job. Does their major have to do with it or is it the job sector they're applying for?

A: Individual job prospects depend on a balance between openings by occupation and graduates by program of study. These openings are a combination of growth in the number of new jobs and jobs that are available because some leave a job and an occupation and have to be replaced.

 

Q: Are sectors of the economy recession proof?

A:  Yes. School funding and educational expenditures are less subject to recessionary pressures than other sectors of the economy. Those with BA degrees in education or BA degrees in social and physical sciences with educational certification can expect to find jobs without long delays. Also, health care. This industry will continue to be a source of openings for a variety of BA degree specialties, which do not include physicians, but do include registered nursing. Registered nursing is one of the largest occupations with over 2.3 million jobs and with forecasted openings around 100 to 104 thousand a year. Other specialties as medical and laboratory technologists and technicians, dietitians and nutritionist can expect openings and jobs with few delays. Computing, engineering, (especially civil, mechanical and electrical) architecture, surveyor, and social service are also fairly constant.

 

 

Q: Business seems like a surefire degree right now. What do you think?

A: Well, yes and no. Openings in managerial positions tend to require on-the-job experience and the MBA so they are seldom entry level positions. Even in normal times the BA degree in business is becoming preparation for admission into an MBA program. 

Positions for BA degree holders in business without managerial experience tend to be such non-managerial positions as loan officer or loan counselor, insurance underwriters, human resources, meeting and convention planners, tax preparation, real estate appraisal and business operations.

 

Fred Siegmund's writings can be found at

by Orrin Konheim

According to this article from Imperial Valley News (found here), the job market might be evolving with internet 2.0 because as the economy gets tighter, managers need to streamline the hiring process and web 2.0 can provide the much needed assist.

According to the article:
"Managers use it to eliminate useless - and costly - interviews and prescreen candidates before bringing them in for in-person interviews. And job hunters can use technology to distinguish themselves from the pack.

By using a Web-based video interviewing system, hiring managers can view video clips of job candidates, any time, any place, and share them with other decision makers."

A video or virtrual resume can create interest in a candidate and can be used as a tool for job hunters to get a quicker read on elements such as personality and job interest. This is clearly a growing trend and they already fall in with established practices that we do every day, such as log into facebook, linkedin or myspace.

In short, it is a saver of both time and resources for both parties, and with that, it looks to be a trend that will continue to grow. Networking is also a key to streamlining the process as job employers will continue to trade applications with each other.

by Logan Stewart

It seems like we can't even watch a simple television show these days without a barrage of political ads harping on the terminally bad state of the nation's economy. Candidates and the media like to latch on to snippets of news about recession and down times; in particular, those newer, headline-making doomsday pieces.  Those nuggets of information then get funneled across the AP wire and splashed across newspapers and magazines, and likewise make their way into TV and radio chatter.  
 
So where does all of this desolate heresey leave you, the job seeker?  The US Labor Department reported earlier this year that the US economy had a net loss of 20,000 jobs in April 2008.  While this was the fourth consecutive month that the number of lost jobs had increased, it was actually an improvement over the three previous months. That's right; the situation is NOT as bad as it comes across.
 
Realistically, some industries are no doubt in a rut right now.  We've all heard about the mortgage crisis, the banks and financial services situations, and goodness knows the talk about the rising cost of gas never stops.  Right now, these are not particularly good sectors in which to seek a job.  Yet despite these seemingly huge crises, our nation's employment rate is still hovering at 94%, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.  
 
The key to finding a job right now is to strategize and streamline your efforts.  Here are some key steps you can take to keep your career search stable and on the right path:   

Tell Everyone!  Being unemployed is nothing to be ashamed of.  You would be amazed at how many people have been in your situation and will actually want to share their stories of trial and triumph with you.  The more people you keep in your network and keep in the loop about your job hunt, the more likely they will be to remember you when they hear about an opportunity.
 
Spend Less time on Job Websites. Hiring managers are generally swamped with tens, even hundreds, of resumes from job search engines.  Many of those applications are irrelevant and get tossed. While it's okay to apply for a few jobs you see that really interest you, make the bulk of your job search networking through people you know.

Seek Out Specific Companies.  Make a list of the top ten or twenty companies that you would like to work for.  Then get on their websites and browse their career or employment sections.  If you know people within the industry, by all means get in touch with them for the inside scoop.
 
Talk to Headhunters.  In case you're not familiar with them, headhunters are recruiting firms that specialize in niche professions such as law, banking, or human resources.  Get in touch with a local staffing firm that seeks employees for the sector you want to work in.  The resulting jobs may not be the most glamorous, but they are steady.  Note:  there is actually a need for professional skills right now, particularly in finance and accounting, science and engineering, healthcare, nursing, and technology and IT fields.

Finding a job takes time, even in the best of economic situations.  So don't despair yet; there's no need to feel like your days at the unemployment office will never end.  The upside of all the negative talk?  History has shown us time and time again that recessions are only temporary and the economy will eventually always turn back around.

Over time at the uboast blog, we are going to analyze the prospects for a different college major. We will base which jobs to pick, based on your requests (which can be put in the comments section and what we see within the uboast community):

This week's featured job is in biology and biologist.

 

America employs biologists working as biologists in research and teaching, but jobs depend on credentials.  Nearly 70 thousand work as Biology Technicians using BA degree credentials. Universities employ 30 percent of Biology Technicians to assist in their research laboratories and medical schools. A little over 37 percent work for firms doing research and development including testing laboratories and pharmaceutical companies. Another 20 percent work in government and health care employs a little over 5 percent of them.

 

Almost all Biology Technicians work under the supervision of someone with a doctorate or medical degree, or both. Medical scientists, Epidemiologists, Microbiologists and Biological Scientist jobs can be filled with biologists, but these jobs require a doctorate in biology.

 

The only other significant job for those with BA degree credentials in biology is Zoologist and Wildlife Biologist with 17.8 thousand jobs. Almost 60 percent of these jobs are in government since the federal government owns and manages so much of America's land and its wildlife. Otherwise jobs are in firms doing research in animal behavior and habitat, or teaching.

 

Job growth for Biology Technicians averaged 3,921 a year from 2000 at a rate much higher than the national average for all jobs. Job growth for Zoologist and Wildlife Biologist averaged 874 a year and at a rate above the national average for all jobs.

 

Job growth is not as good a measure of new hiring as job openings. Job openings are job growth and the number of net replacements. Net replacements are people who permanently leave an occupation for another occupation or retirement and must be replaced before there can any job growth.

 

Job openings for Biology Technicians are forecast to be 2,474 a year for the next several years. Job openings for Zoologist and Wildlife Biologist are forecast to be 781 a year.

 

New BA degrees in biological and biomedical sciences total 69,178 in the year ending June 2006, which is up from 60,256 in 2001. Biology degrees continue to be about 4.6 to 4.7 percent of annual BA degrees.

 

Openings for the two occupations using BA degree skills are small compared to thousands of BA degrees. Actually openings 3,255 minus 69,178 BA degrees yield a tremendous surplus, but before we jump to conclusions we need to look at other opportunities to use biology degree skills.

 

First, many with BA degrees in Biology go on to graduate school where 8,681 received masters degrees and 5,775 received doctorates in the year ending June 2006. Both the MA and Doctorate degree totals are growing. The masters degree in biology is up from 6,205 in the year ending June 2002; the doctorate is up from 4,489. Advanced degrees open doors for college teaching where over 52 thousand teach college biology. Advanced degrees open opportunities for job openings in microbiology, biological science research, and medical research. Annual openings are estimated at 5,900 a year.

 

Otherwise teaching biology in middle schools and high schools in public and private school systems is the biggest source of jobs in biology. Based on current data from the National Center for Education Statistics 110 thousand teach natural science in high schools. If biology is one of four core natural science subjects that implies 27.5 thousand teach biology courses in the United States high schools.

 

Secondary school teaching is one of America's largest professional jobs with just over a million jobs and growth average nearly 18 thousand a year since 2000. Openings are expected to be around 33 thousand a year for the next 5 years.

 

As of the 2007 Bureau of Labor Statistics survey the entry wage in secondary school teaching are $39,780. The median wage is $49,420 and the 90^th percentile wages is $78,100. The 90^th percentile wage reflects years of experience and probably additional credits in biology or a masters degree in education or biology. Wages are keeping up with inflation.

 

The entry wage for Biology Technicians is $29,950. The median wage is $37,810, and the 90^th percentile wage is $60,770. Wage increases for Biology Technicians have been rising at the same rate of inflation but little more.

 

Wage for Zoologist and Wildlife Biologists have been rising a little faster than inflation. Entry wages for Zoologist and Wildlife Biologists are $43,160. The median wage is $55,100, and the 90^th percentile wage is $89,690.

 

Jobs using BA degree skills in biology are small relative to the number of annual graduates. At the current level of openings and new graduates, those with biology skills should be ready to teach, which means biology majors should also fulfill their state's teaching certification requirements. Otherwise graduate work or patience are the best advice for those who want to work in jobs using biology.

 

- Fred Siegmund is a regional market forecaster who has served as an independent contractor for the Department of Labor and has been writing for the Washington DC metropolitan area in the Department of Employment Services

American colleges and universities continue to turn out graduates, and in ever increasing numbers, but the growth in college graduation in the United States began after World War II and the GI Bill of Rights. In 1900 the decennial census counted that year's college graduates; 27,410 received Baccalaureate Degrees from degree granting colleges. After reaching 186,500 in 1940, BA degrees climbed to 432,048 in 1950. Earned degrees declined some later in the 1950's; but surpassed all earlier numbers by 1964. Earned baccalaureate degrees jumped to 792,316 in June of 1970; 900 thousand in 1973; 1 million in 1989. In the year ending June 2006, BA degree graduates 1.485 million. The highest total reported.

With so many skilled citizens it is useful to ask what jobs they are doing with their many skills? The Bureau of Labor Statistics helps out with this question by collecting and maintaining employment data by occupation. The data are classified under a recently updated system called the Standard Occupational Classifications or SOC for short. 

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