MyJobSearcher.com

Cross post to over 50 job boards from one online location. Of value?

I was tired of logging in and out. Tired of copy-pasting the same position again and again. Running short on time, I wasn’t able to post to all the job boards I wanted to. Maximum effort and moderate results were the case in hand.

Frustration fuels innovation. The idea for the newest efforts of My Job Searcher were just that. A teeth-grinding leap towards time savings and improved efficiency.

We developed a single online location that our staff uses to post to multiple job boards with just one click of a mouse. That’s right, log in once, copy-paste once, and post an available position on over fifty sought after job boards—time saved—efficiency proceed to 60MPH!

Connecting with popular free sites such as: Simply Hired, Indeed, Craig’s List (many cities are offered free), niche boards and employment offices around the country has improved our nation-wide reach. Linking Career Builder and Monster accounts has only further streamlined posting.

Could this be valuable to anyone else? Where should the latest innovation of My Job Searcher go next?

Faster, simpler, convenient and cost effective. Reaching thousands of qualified candidates, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week has its appeal. The Society for Human Resources Professionals (SHRM) says more than 90% of HR professionals are using the Internet for recruiting.

How about niche markets? I have spoken with recruiters hiring developers requiring specific training and software licensing. Cutting edge IT needs can bring a wave of resumes, but a need for candidates with specific training may leave recruiters scratching their heads in cyber space.

With time committed to job board posting: logging in and out over and over, repetitive copy-pasting, and hundreds and thousands of dollars needed to access popular boards like Monster and Career Builder, recruiters and staffers need to enter the online recruiting community aware of what works and what doesn’t.

What’s working for you?

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Walking down memory lane and watching Perry Mason may cause you to think that Della Reed was indispensable to Perry Mason.  That girl could work!  She was absolutely dependable, knew what her boss wanted before he knew, smiled at the right time, remained quiet when required, always brought just the right document to court at the very moment Perry needed it. Available all hours of the night or day.  She even traveled when required and she never let her personal life get in the way of her job!  Poor Della remained the dedicated spinster secretary to Perry all the way into the 80’s. Let’s face it, Perry would have been nothing without her!

Guess what:  she was still subject to dispensability!  And Perry would have carried on without her.  He’d have found himself a new Della, a gal with all the right moves at all the right times, who was just as much the super legal secretary that Della was.

So why didn’t he?  Because Della knew that she could be replaced.  She never put on airs, acted like the company would fall apart without her or put others in a position of thinking that if it weren’t for her, they would have no job. Not only was Della the perfect employee, she knew never to let her knowledge of her perfection go to her head and become apparent to her boss!  She never lost sight of the fact that no matter how good she was, she was dispensable.

Thus the secret to truly being “indispensable” lies in being able to recognize that you are not indispensable.

You want to keep your job, right?  Then operate from the viewpoint that your job matters, your boss matters, and your co-workers matter.

Never operate from the viewpoint that the place will fall apart without you, or that nobody else can do what you do, or that the whole office is in motion because of you.  There’s nothing a boss or co-worker hates more than that type of attitude!  Interestingly, it is the attitude like this one that also shows just how dispensable you are.

Never lose sight of the fact that the office was running before you arrived, it was running while you were there, and it will continue to run after you are gone.  Sure, there may be a few bumps in the road after you leave, and there may have been a few bumps in the road before you arrived, we are not trying to discredit the work you do or the value that you are to the company.

We just don’t want you making the mistake of letting it go to your head, thus causing your overall value and worth to the company to be jeopardized.  Never forget that your indispensability lies in knowing that you are not indispensable!

Terms:

indispensable – absolutely necessary, essential

dispensable – not necessary or essential

You are not indispensable – a phrase that employees will sometimes hear from a manager, co-worker or owner indicating that they are not essential to the company.

As stated in an earlier article, working from home can be very rewarding for many people. As America becomes more energy conscious and more family conscious, there are more and more employers offering this opportunity.

Not all work at home jobs are scams. Conversely, not all work at home jobs are legitimate. If you have decided that you have what it takes personality-wise and skill set-wise to be a candidate for working from home, then you will need to be aware that there are some jobs out there which are not legitimate.

The best way to avoid the potential scam job is to be more aware of the legitimate companies that offer this opportunity and to be aware of what they offer. Here are a few guidelines:

Is the company legitimate?

• Check with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) for your area

• Do some internet searches to see what others have said about them

• Check with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) website. You can do searches for press release or other information on any employer you are considering

• Visit Fraud.org – they should also be able to inform you of civil and criminal complaints – existence or non-existence of for your prospective employer.

Is the work legit?

• If you need to fork over a sizable amount of cash, it is not a legitimate job, but it may possibly still be a legitimate work opportunity. If you are looking for a job, then you shouldn’t have to pay to start.

• Ask a few questions, such as:

  • What tasks will you be performing?

    • The tasks should not include the use of your bank account, your credit card, or paypal account.

  • Is the pay a salary or commission?

    • Salary or commission is acceptable or a combination – as long as the commission structure is sound and does not have a long list of qualifiers before you finally get it!

    • In some scenarios operating as an independent is also acceptable, but keep in mind you will need to do your own tax accounting and set asides. (positions like professional writers, bookkeepers, etc. are often “1099 employees”.)

  • How often do you get paid and who pays you?

    • Pay should be routine (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or upon invoice submission if you are 1099) and it should be coming from the company that plans on hiring you.

  • How do you get paid?

    • At first, it had better be a paycheck that you can come to the office to pick up, or have mailed to you.

    • After time, and once you’ve satisfied yourself that you are working with a legitimate company, if they offer direct deposit, then you can sign up for that program.

    • You should not be paid in cash!

With a little research and common sense, you should be able to find a legitimate position with a legitimate company and enjoy the pleasure of working from your own home.

More and more Americans are setting up offices in their homes and joining the work force.

It is a solution to a number of family, environmental, and financial problems that arise when we go out to work each day. There are many excellent positions offered by legitimate companies that can be done from home. There are also many different types of professions that more and more are migrating to home working scenarios because there is cost savings for both the employer and the employee.

There are also numerous benefits to the person who works at home– including less commute time and less wear and tear on their vehicle, which means also less car insurance premiums as the amount of driving so greatly reduced. As well, there are fewer expenses for wardrobe, eating out, etc.

On the other hand, there are other expenses, such as buying your own office supplies, having your own office space, and maintaining your own office equipment, but this is not a complete list.

For those who enjoy working from home, it can be ideal, and conversely for those who require more interaction with others, it can be a form of torture. Thus, make sure you are the type that likes working at home before you pursue that opportunity.

Keep in mind, you have to be your own self-starter, task manager, and scheduler. You can’t allow work/home activities to encroach upon each other. You have to create and stick to a schedule. You have to be available during work hours and not available when the office is closed unless you’ve made special arrangements for a late meeting or a client to call upon a rare occasion.

For the working parent, working at home can be a real challenge as well. How do you juggle the client on the phone, with the child who wants his or her lunch? It can be done, but you will need to work through a few aspects of the time and home/work balance management to get it to work for you. Often home workers with small children will have an in-house nanny, or still take their children to daycare– at least part of the week.

It is important to keep in mind the professional environment that you need to maintain – especially if you are working the phones or minimally have clients who contact you. Don’t have dogs barking at the mailman in the background, or kids jumping on the furniture with you hollering over to them to stop.

Work at home is still work and the rules of professionalism still apply. Keep in mind that your clients need to know you are a professional, not some second-rate worker who can’t afford an office.

The main issue is to first determine if you have the personality to work at home. The second is to determine is if your profession can be done from home. Then once you start to look for a position, make sure you don’t get yourself into a “scam”, which we will cover in another article.

Working from home can be very rewarding for the right person. Explore the area to see if it is for you. Read the article in this serious that gives you guidelines to avoid scams before you start your job search as well.

What’s your stand? Are you for it? Are you against it? Do you have a position?

Let’s take a look at what some people are saying about our four-legged best friends joining our work force:

According to Andrew Field of the Montana-based company Printingforless.com, where every day is a “take your dog to work” day, pets in the workplace increase morale, productivity, and camaraderie. It turns out that 17% of Americans say that their companies are of the same frame of mind. More and more, it seems that employers have found a way to keep the staff happy, and to improve the products and services coming out of their shop – just let the workers have a puppy!

Now on the flip side of the coin: At least 5% of the population has allergies to dogs. That means misery for the allergic-to-dog-hair group is going to a) suffer uncontrollably, b) spend a fortune in allergy medicine, or c) demand of their employers that only hypo-allergenic breeds like poodles be allowed to join in at work.

But let’s take a look at what customers may show concern over: more and more as dogs come to work and begin to “own the space” the unassuming customer may instead of being greeted with a friendly “hello”, find himself greeted by at least a threatening-looking snarl – even if “little Polly” the poodle is sweet and harmless!

No matter the current trend, bringing “Rover” to work will only be a successful activity for the company as a whole if “Rover” and the work force can agree to a few basic rules, such as no allergy issues, no territorial issues, no domineering issues, and of course – Rover must know the ropes on the proper place to “use the facilities”.

Also, the customer issue is not as broad of a concern as one may have imagined because most of the employers that are inviting their staff to bring their dogs to work do not typically have clients or customers who come to the office. Thus the greater issue really is whether or not employee productivity and morale is improved by the practice.

Blue Cross in the UK recently conducted a study, where they also found that dogs create a positive change when they are permitted in the workplace. The study has shown that having a dog in the workplace decreases absenteeism, increases productivity and greatly improves staff morale.

Currently, the United States and Canada are the leading countries for working environments that invite dogs to join in on this continent. The UK is working towards creating that same environment in more of their working environments. On the Asian continent, however, Taiwan has almost half of their employers allowing staff to bring their dogs to work.

Finally, in the US there is even a special day, declared as, “Take Your Dog to Work Day”. It is on June 20^th. It was created by Pet Sitters International (PSI) to celebrate dogs as great companions. The purpose of the day is to encourage employers to experience the value of pets in the workplace. It can also help to encourage pet adoptions from shelters, humane societies and rescue groups.

What, pray tell, is “the right degree”?

You would be amazed at who is getting the attention as they are coming out of the college/university circuit and into the work world.

It may just surprise you to know that one of the hot areas is in engineering. People with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, for example, are getting the notice of such places as NASA – and companies in Wisconsin such as Illumination Optics to name a couple.

All over the nation, the real area of hot jobs can be summed up as those jobs that require some type of a degree or skilled training program in the areas of math or science. Headhunting companies have lists of “hard-to-fill” jobs, which show that the positions which require some type of skilled math or science training to be the highest in demand.

According to Manpower, Inc. the hardest list of jobs for them to fill this past year was engineering positions. Why? Because the engineers were in a higher demand than in years past and there simply weren’t enough of them with the right degree!

Second hardest to fill was machinists and machine operators. Even the skilled trades, technicians, and IT positions were hard for Manpower to get filled – despite what everybody keeps saying about a failing economy!

As our society evolves and grows, the area that generates strong interest from the work world becomes more and more the students with math and science degrees. Then there are those in the computer sciences, which ranked #9 on the hard-to-fill jobs list this year. There was a time after the dot.com bubble burst when they were nowhere on this list.

Part of the reason why these types of degrees are in such high demand is because there are fewer people who actually go to college for these types of degrees as compared to those who go into the Business or Language Arts programs.

In fact some majors, like the engineering major, may actually begin to draw the attention of recruiters from the day he or she sets foot on campus and will certainly receive multiple job offers when he or she graduates.

Keep in mind as well that as demand goes up, so does the pay. Students who embark upon degrees in the areas of science or math will normally draw a significantly higher opening offer than students in the fields that are not in high demand.

Much of what some researchers say has caused such a shortage of qualified people in the sciences, math, engineering and skilled trades arenas is simply an inadequate level of teachers at the high school level to provide sufficient math and science training prior to entering college. The college programs for these degrees have more astringent guidelines that many high school students cannot/could not meet to qualify for training programs in these fields.

This situation has been tracked back to inadequate salaries for math and science teachers at the high school level, which tends to keep the teachers out of the high schools and in the colleges.

Here is a list of other companies that have gained recognition amongst their employees and the work force in general for having innovative programs to help the working parent meet the demands of work, home, and finance.

With all the companies on this list, you will find that there is typically some type of flex work scheduling program, additional maternity leave, or discounted day care. Some of them will also provide on site services that help to eliminate the number of routine tasks that parents have to complete in their off hours.

• Merrill Lynch is based in New York, NY and provides financial services to private, institutional and government clients. There are, of course, Merrill Lynch branch offices all over the United States. They have a total of 51,100 employees in their New York Offices and 21,500 of those are women.

• Turner Broadcasting System produces news, entertainment and young-adult programs. They currently provide jobs to 9049 employees and 4,105 of those are women.

• Freddie Mac located in Mclean, VA sporting 5414 employees, 2680 of which are women. They provide financing for home mortgages and rental housing.

• patagonia is located in Ventura, CA. They manufacture outdoor apparel and accessories. They are small but innovative and growing every year. They currently sport an employee base of only 764 employees, with 416 of those being women.

• Lego is based in Enfield, CT. and has long been the name associated with the manufacturing of toys that are now sold in more than 130 countries. Lego has 906 employees and 543 of those are women.

• Covington in Washington, DC is another small company with a big agenda of services for its employees. Covington provides corporate, litigation, and regulatory counsel. With 1043 employees, 600 are women and they are continuing to grow.

• Intel has its headquarters in Santa Clara, CA, but also has major facilities in the Portland Oregon area. They are one of the companies that has truly created a modern work force, while always being the innovative leader in high tech manufacturing of computer systems. With 46,207 employees they show 11,166 of those being women.

• Microsoft is the Seattle-based giant developed by Bill Gates. They develop computer software, services and solutions. In their Washington state facility, they employ 51,143 people, with 13,043 of those being women.

• Bank of America is based in Charlotte, NC, but provides jobs all over the United States. Their employees total 186,892 and 123,127 of those are women. B of A is of course, well known for its banking services, but they also provide investing, asset management and other financial and risk management services as well.

If one does a bit of research while they are on the job hunt, they can find many companies that are taking major strides to provide a work environment that enhances the working parents life and helps to keep the “work/life balance” more balanced.

Whatever your needs are, when you are interviewing, ask about the programs that the company offers to its employees. You’ll be surprised to find how many employers are attempting to bring on programs that help to meet those needs.

Continuing our look at companies that recognize the duties and responsibilities of people in the work force who are also raising families, we have found a couple more companies that offer some terrific services to the working Mom and Dad.

Hallmark Cards has its headquarters in Kansas City, MO. They are of course a household name to most of us, providing greeting cards, ornaments, TV programming as well as many other products. Hallmark has been in business for 98 years and currently employs 31,412 employees, with 25,951 being women.

• Hallmark has been providing flexible work schedules for more than a decade. Their flex-work program includes telecommuting, job-sharing, and compressed workweeks.

• Full-time care for children has been made very affordable through a ten-percent employee discount at two national child-care chains. They also have access to a resource and referral service to help locate other options.

• In 2007, Hallmark sponsored an executive panel discussion on worklife balance and a women’s leadership conference. They believe this initiative is have a real effect, especially since last year more than 80% of the new managers were women.

Allstate Insurance is headquartered in Northbrook, IL, they provide insurance and financial products. They have a total of 36,495 employees, 21,590 of which are women. A couple of their programs include:

• All State has a headquartered-based daycare program with an additional three nearby child care facilities that provides up to 30% off the cost of a day care center for the working parent. Yet it doesn’t stop there, if the employees are working for Allstate in another location, they also get access to discounted child care through four other national providers.

• A very important aspect of the Allstate work force programs is their flex scheduling. Since women represent such a high number of employees, the work/life balance is encouraged. In 2007, 75% of employees flexed their schedules, included in that 75% were 28% who telecommuted and 10% who worked compressed schedules.

• They also provide a number of services that cut down back on the number of things a person has to fit into their already over packed off hours. Included in the stress buster service program are such things as dry cleaning, catering, movie rentals and minor auto repairs. There is of course available as well on-site insurance and financial agency services.

General Mills has its base in Minneapolis, MN. Of course they are well-known for all the packaged food products they produce. They have 16,809 employees and 6,795 of those are women. Take a look at some of their programs.

• Time off to volunteer – but here’s the nice part – its paid time off! GM will give up to ten hours of paid time off a year to work as a volunteer in the community.

• New parents can receive as much as 26 weeks off, without risking their jobs. Three weeks are fully paid, and three are partially paid for the moms. For the dads, or adoptive parents, it is two fully paid weeks off.

• They also run flex scheduling with 42% of the employees regularly changing their hours and in the summer, most employees work a 45-minute longer day so that Friday quitting time is at lunch.

What tends to classify a company as innovative to the working parent? Overall, it is the company that recognizes there is more to your life than working and commuting to home so that you can get rested up and start the work/commute all over again, except for those off hours where you have to jam in all your life duties, rapidly and sometimes rather stressfully.

It is the company that recognizes parents are working for their families, but those families exist right now and the work needs to be done in accordance with the responsibility of also being a parent.

Some companies are recognizing more and more the burden it can be for working parents to juggle finances, time, work, and the responsibilities of parenting and taking steps to provide programs to the working parent that will help ease that juggling act.

Here are a few companies that have risen to the occasion and begun to get a name for themselves amongst the working parents.

Dell: More than likely you are familiar with this Texas-based company. Located in Round Rock Texas, they manufacture personal computers and servers as well as network and mobile technology. They currently provide jobs for 28,436 employees, 8631 of which are women.

Dell has made a name for itself with three of its programs designed to help create a positive and rewarding work environment.

• The company continues to value employee feedback about the way it does business. A new survey asks staffer to actually rate their managers, and they have two blogs where staff can discuss workplace issues.

• In both the Texas and North Carolina facilities parents have access to full time and back up child care at ten near-site centers. They even have an in-home nanny program that staff can request, at a cost of $4.00 per hour when a child cannot attend regular care for some reason.

• They also provide a healthy pregnancy program for mothers-to-be, giving important physical health information to help during those critical nine months. This program even provides a maternity hotline that parents can call 24/7.

• They may be one of the few companies recognizing the care that the elderly also require with their program designed to help workers with aging parents. Employees can locate elder care through a resource and referral hotline and can poll an employee support group for recommendations.

Accenture: a New York company that supplies management consulting, technology services and outsourcing. They currently have a total of 28,468 employees, 11,925 of which are women. They offer some great programs. Here’s a couple of examples:

• Accenture allows the freedom to work four long days in exchange for Fridays off, as well as working from home during the weeks of July 4, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

• Accenture also provides an extended leave program. They allow employees to divert a portion of their pay to help fund their leave. One example of how this program works is with new moms. They can add an extra month to their 16-week maternity leave. (Already 10 weeks better than most places!) Other employees have used the program to take three months off without jeopardizing their jobs or health benefits. Just imagine – summer with your kids!