Professional Outlook, Inc. Recruiting Specialists

Lest We Forget…

11.11.11 Please be sure to take a moment on November 11, at 11 a.m. to remember and honor our veterans who have and continue to defend our freedom.

History of Veterans’ Day:

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, was declared between the Allied nations and Germany in the First World War, then known as “the Great War.” Commemorated as Armistice Day beginning the following year, November 11th became a legal federal holiday in the United States in 1938. In the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War, Armistice Day became Veterans Day, a holiday dedicated to American veterans of all wars.

Allrecipes.com Community Leads Movement to Protect Thanksgiving; Home Cooks Pledge to Savor Day of Food, Family and Thankfulness

Is Thanksgiving as we know it an endangered species?  With Halloween’s ghosts barely banished, each year retailers push the Christmas season upon consumers earlier and earlier – and all at the expense of the Thanksgiving holiday.  But the Allrecipes.com community is out to turn that around.  Inspired by community member Doug Matthews’ November 2010 blog post lamenting the commercialization of the holiday season, Allrecipes, a Reader’s Digest Association (RDA) company and the world’s #1 digital food brand, today announced its “Respect the Bird!” campaign: a grassroots movement to savor the true meaning of Thanksgiving and tune out the distractions of Black Friday that have intruded upon Thanksgiving week.

A national survey from Allrecipes found 82 percent of home cooks think Christmas is marketed too early and that the Thanksgiving holiday gets too little attention as a result. Moreover, 42 percent admit being frustrated by Christmas shopping sales that begin before Thanksgiving while 39 percent just try to ignore them.

Allrecipes has created a dedicated site, www.RespectTheBird.com, where Thanksgiving enthusiasts can rally support for the movement. Here, consumers can take the Respect the Bird Pledge, a promise to fully enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday and not begin shopping for the December holidays until after November 24, and get recipes and tips for their Thanksgiving festivities. The site and complementary social media channels (Respect the Bird Facebook community and Respect the Bird on Twitter – @RespectTheBird) will make it easy to spread the movement among friends and family. Read the rest of this entry »

In the world today, we have millions of people who are perfectly trained and very competent to handle jobs that no longer exist! Finally, governments around the world and in the United States are wising up; they are becoming aware of the desperate need for workforce development—and we are not exaggerating.

In fact, there was confirmation from Hilda Solis, the US Secretary of Labor, who, in a conference call with reporters, said, “Today, we’re making a strategic investment in our work force. Right now, there are high-growth industries in this country that can’t find skilled labor to fill open positions. We need to train our workers to fill them. Community colleges understand the needs of local employers.”

In the US, community colleges will receive about USD $500-million in federal grants in late September, the first of four payments in a USD $2-billion plan announced last year that is intended to improve career development programs and train a currently unemployable workforce. Read the rest of this entry »

Starting salaries for white-collar workers are expected to rise by 3.4 percent on average in 2012, according to staffing firm Robert Half International.

That’s a bigger boost than in the past couple years, according to Robert Half. The company estimates that salaries for white collar workers rose 2.8 percent in 2011 and actually declined by 0.4 percent in 2010. (The 2010 figure excluded advertising and marketing positions.)

In 2009, salaries also rose by 3.4 percent.

The company’s estimates for annual starting salary boosts are based on the thousands of job negotiations it handles each year, combined with other research. The company only looks at starting salaries for its salary guide because other factors such as seniority and job performance can affect pay down the line.

This week, we discuss another complication for parents and employers alike: across the globe, the costs of childcare are rising. According to a study from 24/7 Wall Street, between 1960 and 2010, the costs for childcare and education increased from 2 percent of parents’ expenditures to 17 percent, while the cost for healthcare (only) doubled from four to eight percent. A study entitled “Parents and the High Cost of Child Care: 2011 Update” was recently released by the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) about what parents pay for full-time childcare in the United States.

Overall in the US, between 2009 and 2010, the cost of childcare increased between 1.9 and percent for childcare centers and 1.8 and 2.6 percent for family childcare homes. Compared to family income and household expenses, childcare costs are high.In most states, the average annual cost of center-based infant care exceeded 10 percent of the country’s median income for a two-parent family. In fact, in 36 states, the average annual cost for center-based infant care was higher than a year’s tuition—with related fees—at a four-year public college! Read the rest of this entry »

The U.S. Department of Labor announced the winners of two contests recently for third-party developers to showcase innovative uses of the department’s data. SymSoft Solutions in Sacramento, Calif., with its “Where are the jobs?” application, won the Occupational Employment Statistics challenge to help connect unemployed workers with promising careers.

Rachel Moore in Alexandria, Va., won the “informAction app” challenge to empower consumer choices about the hotel, motel, restaurant and retail industries with her “Eat Shop Sleep” mobile application. The first-place winners of each challenge received $15,000. Second and third place prizes and honorable mentions also were awarded. In addition, the “people’s choice” category featured a $2,500 prize based on votes collected through the federal government’s online contest portal at http://www.challenge.gov. Read the rest of this entry »

With a global population of seven billion people, it is important to realize that over 28 percent are between the ages of 15 and 24. Today, we highlight a significant societal problem: youth unemployment.

“A scarred‚ generation of young workers [is] facing a dangerous mix of high unemployment, increased inactivity, and precarious work in developed countries, as well as persistently high working poverty in the developing world,” according to a study released last week by The International Labour Organization (ILO).

Moreover, the ILO warns the situation is getting worse. In its recent report, Global Employment Trends for Youth: 2011 Update, the ILO speaks of the Great Recession that has brought its current discomfort from unemployment, under-employment, and the stress of social hazards associated with joblessness and prolonged inactivity. Read the rest of this entry »

Nonfarm payroll employment edged up by 103,000 in September, and the unemployment rate held at 9.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported earlier in October. The next report is due Nov. 4.

The increase in employment partially reflected the return to payrolls of about 45,000 telecommunications workers who had been on strike in August. In September, job gains occurred in professional and business services, health care, and construction. Government employment continued to trend down.

The number of unemployed persons, at 14.0 million, was essentially unchanged in September, and the unemployment rate was 9.1 percent. Since April, the rate has held in a narrow range from 9.0 to 9.2 percent. (See table A-1.) Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (8.8 percent), adult women (8.1 percent), teenagers (24.6 percent), whites (8.0 percent), blacks (16.0 percent), and Hispanics (11.3 percent) showed little or no change in September. The jobless rate for Asians was 7.8 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) was 6.2 million in September. These individuals accounted for 44.6 percent of the unemployed. (See table A-12.) Both the labor force and employment increased in September. However, the civilian labor force participation rate, at 64.2 percent, and the employment-population ratio, at 58.3 percent, were little changed.

If you are currently employed and have accepted a new opportunity it is important that you handle the resignation from your current employer with dignity.  You don’t want to burn any bridges or leave with bad feelings between you and your employer.  Often, this is the person who will be providing a job reference for you in the future.
When you resign with dignity and correct resignation etiquette the process actually has a positive impact on both your personal and career development.  There is no reason why your current employers and co-workers can’t remain an important part of your professional network.

Practice makes perfect and it is important that you plan out  your approach, prepare what you are going to say and write and lastly, maintain a positive attitude throughout the process.

Resignations are normally done in person backed up by a written resignation letter. Read the rest of this entry »

Ask yourself the following questions to self assess your current resume:

1. Does the layout invite attention?  Is it clear and easy to read with appropriate spacing?

2. Did I list only my past ten years of work experience?

3. Did I list my education?  High School?  College?  Trade School?  Any job relevant certifications?

4. Did I key in on any rewards/awards that set me apart from my past co-workers?

5. Do I have a skills section that lists all career specific skills? Read the rest of this entry »