Entries from November 2006
ECONOMICS
Jessica Vassellaro, of the Wall Street Journal Online writes, “according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, economics majors in their first job earn an average of nearly $43,000 a year — not as much as for computer-science majors and engineering majors, who can earn in excess of $50,000 a year. But those computer and engineering jobs look increasingly threatened by competition from inexpensive, highly skilled workers in places like India and China.”
“Economics and business majors ranked among the five most-desirable majors in a 2004 survey of employers by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, along with accounting, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. It wasn’t just banks and insurance companies that expressed interest in economics majors — companies in industries such as utilities and retailing did so, too.”
“Indeed, the rising popularity of the economics major appears to be a global phenomenon. A recent McKinsey Global Institute study found that the share of degrees in economics and business awarded in Poland from 1996 to 2002 more than doubled, to 36% from 16%; in Russia, the share jumped to 31% from 18%.”
“Pooja Jotwani, a recent graduate of Georgetown University in Washington D.C., says she is certain her economics degree helped her land a job in Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s sales and trading division, where she will earn $55,000, not including bonus.”
The Hot Major for Undergrads Seeking High Pay Is Economics. [The Wall Street Journal Online - Jessica Vascellaro]
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Career Hacker * www.careerhacker.com * By Bill Inman * www.billinman.com
Categories: Compensation · Education · Jobs · Macroeconomics · Negotiating · Research · Salary · Value
Why would you be laid off?
As is stated in the book “Fireproof Your Career,” by Anne Baber and Lynne Waymon there are many scenarios where a layoff at your company could effect your job. 10 of these scenarios include if the company you work for:
1. out-sourced your department overseas and eliminated your job.
2. got new management in a hostile take-over and eliminated your job.
3. merged with a competitor and eliminated your job.
4. bought more productive technology and eliminated your job.
5. hired contractors and eliminated your job.
6. decided to side-track your boss and eliminated your job.
7. changed its product line and eliminated your job.
8. down-sized, lost market-share, shrunk and eliminated your job.
9. consolidated its operations and eliminate your location and your job.
10.went bankrupt through bad management decisions and eliminated all jobs.
How can you protect yourself from these scenarios?
Accepting that these scenarios could become a reality and taking action on the following five tactics can provide you with insurance against layoffs and open up new opportunities to you.
- Become psychologically self-employed. Take control over your career and realize that 100% of the responsibility for it is yours. Acting as a contractor or self-employed professional in your career will empower you in many ways. First, you will be more likely to keep your skills current and secondly they tend to position themselves as players not observers.
- Learn for employability. Constantly expand your skills and seek career education. Keep your skills learning up in three areas: technological tools, job-specific technical skills, and with portable, transferable skills.
- Safeguard your financial future by planning ahead. Make financial decisions, on a day-to-day basis, that support your future. Ask yourself, “how can I spend less, earn more, and manage better?”
- Develop multiple options. Constantly be on the lookout for new departments, arenas, and ways to apply their skills so they’re ready to change jobs or careers when they want to . . . or have to. Look for emerging job types, adjacent fields, lateral moves, and special projects.
- Take time to build a safety net(work). Create long-term relationships that you can support and leverage throughout your career. Join your professional or trade association, for starters.
Five Tips or Fostering an “Eager to Stay/Prepared to Go” Mindset. [Anne Baber and Lynne Waymon]
Categories: Compensation · Jobs · Salary · Social Networking · Value
Looking for more respect at the office? Here are 10 tips to earning it:
1. Consistently complete projects on time
2. Refrain from complaining or criticizing
3. Follow through on your commitments
4. Speak up in meetings, but don’t dominate the discussion.
5. Know your stuff
6. Be willing to engage in difficult conversations
7. Communicate with confidence
8. Stay off the grapevine (gossip)
9. Take time to genuinely connect with people
10. Treat people the way you want to be treated
How to Earn Respect at the Office. [Relational Advantage, Inc.]
Also see:
Gaining Office Respect is Key to Your Career. [Careerhacker - Oct 22, 2006]
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Career Hacker * www.careerhacker.com * By Bill Inman * www.billinman.com
Categories: Career Life · Companies · Management · Motivation · leadership
Monster.com provides some good last minute tips for people who have an interview within the next 24 hours. The tips include:
- Conduct basic interview research – find out as much as you can about the interview.
- Learn about the company on-line – give yourself something to talk about in the interview besides the job description.
- Think of some stories [and not the Three Bears kind] about your career – be ready to discuss your achievements.
- Pick your outfit and go to bed early – get a good night’s rest and get to the interview early.
Read more details:
What If Your Interview is Tomorrow? [Monster - Doug Hardy]
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Career Hacker * www.careerhacker.com * By Bill Inman * www.billinman.co
Categories: Interview · Jobs
Department of Labor information shows that 8 of the 10 highest paying jobs, in the U.S., are in the medical field:
The Highest Paying Jobs in the United States
(Non-medical salaries in bold)
- Surgeon — $181,850
- Anesthesiologist — $174,610
- OB/GYN — $174,610
- Oral and maxillofacial surgeon — $169,600
- Internist — $156,790
- Prosthodontist — $156,710
- Orthodontist — $153,240
- Psychiatrist — $151,380
- Chief Executive Officer — $140,880
- Engineering Manager — $140,210
- Pediatrician — $140,000
- Family or general practitioner — $137,980
- Physician/surgeon, all other — $137,100
- Airline Pilot — $134,090
- Dentist — $132,660
- Podiatrist — $111,130
- Lawyer — $110,590
- Dentist, any other specialist — $106,040
- Air Traffic Controller — $100,430
- Computer and Information Systems Manager — $100,110
- Marketing Manager — $100,020
- Natural Sciences Manager — $97,560
- Sales Manager — $96,950
- Astronomer — $96,780
View job descriptions and job listings for this list at Careerbuilder:
America’s Highest-Paying Jobs. [Careerbuilder - Laura Morsch]
Additionally the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ has listed the estimated pay of the 10 fastest-growing jobs through 2014:
Average pay for the Fastest Growing Jobs
(Non-medical salaries in bold)1. Computer systems software engineer — $81,140*
2. Computer applications software engineer — $76,310
3. Biomedical engineer — $70,520
4. Physician assistant — $69,250
5. Environmental engineer — $67,620
6. Computer systems analyst — $67,520
7. Database administrator — $61,950
8. Physical therapist — $61,560
9. Network systems and data communication analyst — $61,250
10. Hydrologist — $60,880
*Median annual salary, according to November 2004 BLS data.
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Career Hacker * www.careerhacker.com * By Bill Inman * www.billinman.com
Categories: Compensation · Entry Level · Goals · Jobs · Motivation · Negotiating · Research · Salary · Statistics · Value
In many cases people are stigmatized with the status and role (i.e. brand) the obtain when they get started with a new company. There are several ways to combat this:
(1) find a new job with more responsibility and higher compensation. See the previous post Job Hopping Your Way to Career Success for more information.
(2) constantly improve the impact of your personal brand. David Sandusky of BrandSimple writes, “A [personal] brand is much more than your career – it is about you and what you stand for. A promise of value in your family and community. It is an image and perception of you by those around you – physical, emotional and the external experience.”
Review the following resources to learn more about creating your personal brand.
Your Brand, LLC. [Service]
Your Individual Brand. [Blog]
BrandSimple. [Blog, Book]
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Career Hacker * www.careerhacker.com * By Bill Inman * www.billinman.com
Categories: Blog · Branding · Career Life · Goals · Internet · Social Networking · leadership
November 15, 2006 · 1 Comment
“Existing employees have a proven track record of success with [their current companies],” writes Katherine Spencer Lee of Robert Half Technology. Because of this internal employees are often given preference over external candidates.
If you do look at job openings at your current company here are a couple of things to keep in mind:
- Don’t take it lightly – prepare your resume and for the interview process the same as for any external opportunity.
- Make sure you’re qualified – submitting for jobs that you are not qualified for may devalue your skills in the eyes of your company.
- Let your manager know – don’t alienate yourself in your current position if the new job doesn’t work out.
- Make sure you want the job – although it is the same company the culture of another department and boss could be quite different. Get insight from other employees in the department or group you are applying to join.
- Make yourself known- before you apply for another position become known in the company by volunteering for important projects and assignments.
- Refresh your knowledge – review the basics such as writing a good resume and interviewing. Your competition external and internal may be polished in these areas.
The Truth About Internal Job Openings. [Robert Half Technology - Katherine Spencer Lee]
Categories: Branding · Companies · Jobs
Think big and creatively about your career and ask “what if?” Taking action on “what if” thoughts might help you identify your true calling, be great at your job, help more people, and have more fun….
“Such questions will stretch your thinking and lead to new ideas,” says Roger Von Oech author of the Creative Whack Pack.
What if you were CEO of your company? What if you had to speak in front of 4,000 people about your career? What if all of your co-workers and customers didn’t speak English? What if you had 3 years to reach a guaranteed income level for the rest of your life? What if you could only say 25 words or less to sell your product? What if you had to work in a foreign country for the next year? What if you did all your work with a cell phone and laptop computer on a beach in Hawaii? What if you had to wear a different costume to work everyday?
Categories: Career Life · Career Whack · Creativity · Motivation · leadership
Lifehacker “recommends the software downloads and web sites that actually save time.” It is a well written blog with a wealth of great ideas. Every so often they will posts a blog with career ideas.
