Work Watch

Top Careers for 2012

Enne Kay — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 06:01:49 +0000

Here’s another top careers forecast from the BLS update. No surprises here, nursing is tops!http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/04/the-best-paying-jobs-of-t_n_948405.html#s349731&title=10_Personal_Financial

Young Professionals On the Burnout

Enne Kay — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 20:48:27 +0000

This article has reminded me that the rat race pace of life is not meant to be a perpetual state. Every person I’ve ever known that was pulling down hectic 11-17 hour workdays eventually had more frequent doctor visits complaining of their health. Some never had this early warning and developed strokes or other disorders. The only difference is that it is happening to folks younger now who have hectic careers. For most people I know, the real problems they have at work is not the work itself but dealing with the people that you will meet there. Politics, harassment, backstabbing, racism, gender or other forms of discrimination, and being mistreated disparately is what most people find extremely stressful not the actual work.

The quote that college is a “babysitting” service compared to the real world was most thought provoking. Also, when one is planning the career trajectory, one has to think of a Plan B and factor in opportunities for sabbaticals, breaks, or what benefits like flextime are desired. It’s so you can endure the long haul as the article reminds, “life is marathon, not a sprint.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larissafaw/2011/11/11/why-millennial-women-are-burning-out-at-work-by-30/

Business Recovery Shown In Rise of Virtual Offices

Enne Kay — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 01:59:24 +0000

Areas like the Silicon Valley are flourishing right now-one of the few areas where jobs are being added rapidly. I love this story about how shared and rented workspaces make sense for so many companies right now. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203791904576609301747256470.html?google_editors_picks=true

Recreation Can Raise Productivty

Enne Kay — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 16:09:30 +0000

Google figured out this one a long time ago. Allowing employees to play and have fun while working also leads to increased productivity. This could be why I feel so beat up after not having any summer vacation this year. I can’t wait to cite this research that employees who spend less than one-fifth of their time surfing internet are more productive than those who don’t surf at all. See article below.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/08/why-summer-vacations-and-the-internet-make-you-more-productive/244289/?google_editors_picks=true

Working for Free: Is this Really The Way to Go?

Enne Kay — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 11:01:19 +0000

I read this article with a sense of disturbance. Yet I know that it’s common to work in an unpaid role when one really desires compensation and also that it may confer both costs and benefits. The only time that I have been willing to take on an unpaid part-time internship involved simultaneously holding down paid work. But for many, this is the new normal. A substantial number of college grads now spend post-academia in unpaid internships due to fewer immediate, full-time, paid opportunities. In college, one summer, I interned 24+ weekly hours in budget and finance for a well known nonprofit while attending classes, and trying to get other work. I had very limited funds so it was incredibly stressful. Despite doing significant work, I wasn’t even provided with basic parking.

Some people are willing to do work for free if they are gaining new skills or it may lead to future viable work. However, some people would only do this in limited circumstances. The last thing you need when you are trying to conserve your resources is a drain and for some this undermines the ego or morale too much. Simply said, it may be discouraging or feel like failure to some, may eerily feel like indentured servitude, and may not provide a sense of productivity for all at a time when it’s needed. Some would only entertain this on their own terms, or only after being unemployed for eons and are desperate to get out of the house regularly. Others that I know flat out would not do this as they have other ways of feeling useful, cannot do it, or prefer to spend their time conducting their job search, or developing alternative opportunities on their own. In my opinion, working uncompensated is only feasible when you get some other source of financial support, you have unemployment benefits or family sponsorship, can live off savings, are working for a cause you are devoted to, or the skills are transferable to a business or future work opportunities. What about you? Do you think you could work for free?

Aging Workforce Lingers At Workplace

Enne Kay — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 06:51:43 +0000

This USA Today article discusses the financial reasons why most older employees are working longer. It also underscores that less opportunities may open up for younger workers as long as fewer people are retiring.

Thanks to Amy Robinson of the Interchange Group for posting.

Job Passion is Essential to Finding Fulfilling Work.

Enne Kay — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 06:36:03 +0000

Wanna do work you like, not just earn a paycheck? Then run, don’t walk!

On the website, www.californiacolleges.edu, you can complete career interest personality tests. This is after you create a login account. This is the full version of one of the most common career interest inventories out there other than Myers-Briggs. Normally, you have to pay money to take this test, so this is a great deal!

The quiz, “My Interest Finder” on the same site asks you to rate how much you would enjoy performing activities such as conducting a symphony, performing hospital nursing duties, or even mapping the ocean floor. Other such tests usually aim to assess the values important to you and match those values with possible careers.

For more information on career change and discovery, check out the article, “Charting Your Way into a Career You Really Want” by Molly Selvin, which was first published on January 6 2008. The complete article can be viewed at http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-jobs6jan06,0,804711.story?coll=l

Should you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave a note for me. Regards

BLS’s New List of Jobs in Demand Till 2018

Enne Kay — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 09:50:51 +0000

The 2010-2011 edition of the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) is out. The latest predictions, published by the Labor Department, assumes that there will be sustained economic recovery and no new economic downturns.

In terms of the nature of the careers in demand, there are no surprises as healthcare, and computer technology jobs still figure prominently. That doesn’t mean getting work in these fields will be easy, as it also depends on global economic forces and the willingness of workers to retire. What is new this time is a new supplement on the green jobs sector. A Spanish language edition is also slated in the next update of the OOH this fall.

For a distillation of the report, check out the article in the Wall Street Journal and you may also go directly to the Bureau of Labor Statistics site for the OOH, below.

http://online.wsj.com http://www.bls.gov/oco/oco2003.htm

10 Best Cities To Watch Until 2019

Enne Kay — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 02:35:17 +0000

This just in. Kiplinger’s has published its list of 10 Best Cities for the next decade. These “it” metropolitan areas, are hubs of innovation (meaning jobs will be plentiful), feature cool neighborhoods, arts and culture, and recreational opportunities. An attractive mix that aligns closely with a high quality of life. Not bad.

If you read my blog last year, many of these same cities topped the research on the best places to find a job, which was carried out by Simply Hired and Indeed (http://workwatch.wordpress.com).

For instance, D.C perhaps owing to its federal grants, and for other reasons, San Jose were top contenders last year and are featured prominently again on this list.

So if you are willing to relocate to kickstart your career, consider these cities – it’s where the jobs are.

Still Got the L-School Bug?

Enne Kay — Mon, 10 May 2010 21:12:36 +0000

Bar Raised for Law-Grad Jobs

by Nathan Koppel

Fabian Ronisky thought he was on track last summer to become a high-powered corporate lawyer. He was an intern at a leading firm in Los Angeles, earning about $3,000 weekly. But the firm didn’t offer him a permanent job.

So Mr. Ronisky, a 25-year-old student at Chicago’s Northwestern University School of Law, spent the fall sending 50 resumes to law firms and government agencies, to no avail. Now, just days shy of graduation and with $150,000 of student loans, he plans to move back to his parents’ home in San Diego and sell music and movies online.

“I wanted to use my education,” he said. “But times change.”

For more, click below.

http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/109478/bar-raised-for-law-grad-jobs?mod=career-work

Still want more? A couple of lawyer’s chime in with some eye-opening advice.

Should You Go to Law School? Not Unless You Want To Be a Lawyer.

I loved law school, and I am incredibly glad that I decided to go. I am happy with where my career is, and excited about where it appears to be going. In short, my life is good: I am a lucky girl.

http://wrongingrights.blogspot.com/2009/01/should-you-go-to-law-school-not-unless.html