by Peter Lloyd for Job Hunting
I was shaken briefly a few weekends ago by an ominous question posed in the Business section the Sunday New York Times. “Are the Glory Days Long Gone for I.T.?” read the headline over a story quoting former Oracle exec Thomas M. Siebel warning, “the promise of the post-industrial society has been realized.”
Randall Stross, author of the article, kept a cooler head than his headline writer. Inside his article I found that he balanced Siebel’s doomsday prediction with less gloom from a number of other experts. Stanford economist Timothy Bresnahan, for example, says, “It is early days to say the game is over.” Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: IT jobs
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by Peter Lloyd for Health Care, Job Benefits
There are few voices arguing that US health care should be left to continue as is. It’s the proposed solutions that put us at odds. We who are employed, those of us looking for jobs, plus large and small employers all want a system that will keep us alive and healthy, if only so that we can continue to find good jobs or keep good employees.
As proposed solutions emerge, we hear claims that this or that reform will bankrupt us. Counterclaims argue that the way things are will also bankrupt us, only sooner. The overwhelming majority of those involved in the debate agree that costs are too high and heading for greater heights. Read the rest of this entry »
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by Peter Lloyd for Job Hunting
Some people are paying companies—I guess you’d call them recruiters or staffing agencies—to help them land unpaid internships. Not jobs, where you get paid, but internships where you don’t. This is either a sign of how bad the job market is or a shining example of staffing service creativity.
On its face, it seems absolutely nuts, but as I write, the demand for this oxymoron of a staffing solution is rising. One such staffing agency of 45, full-time workers charges from five to close to a cool ten grand to guarantee placement as an intern. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: internships, staffing
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by Peter Lloyd for Job Hunting
I don’t know about you, but when I’m not working or job hunting, I write songs. School bus driving is my day job. Freelance writing is my other day job. But it’s the songwriting that’s going to make me rich.
It could happen. As a matter of fact, not too long ago I wrote a song about how I see it happening. It’s called Make Some Money. Writing songs does not replace my job search or making money, but it fills in the gaps. Employed or not, a lot of us are filling gaps these days. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: employment, job search, time use, unemployment
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by Peter Lloyd for Health Care, Job Benefits
As promised in “Can We Talk About Health Care? Rationally? ” the first step in talking about health care rationally is to establish that we have a problem. Once we eliminate any argument that things are just fine, we can more together toward agreeing on some kind of solution.
Let’s try. And let’s start with the most balanced and comprehensive situation I’ve found so far. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Health Care, health care costs
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by Peter Lloyd for Job Hunting
There may be no better job-hunting adviser than Richard Bolles, author of the best-selling and most widely acclaimed book on the subject, What Color Is Your Parachute? The most recent edition is titled, What Color Is Your Parachute? 2009: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers.
The 2009 edition of the job-seeker’s favorite may be overshadowed, however, by the more recently released (and less expensive, $9.99 vs. $14.86 on amazon.com) The Job-Hunter’s Survival Guide: How to Find a Rewarding Job Even When “There Are No Jobs.”
In “Author Urges Job Seekers to Go Beyond Web,” Washington Post reviewer Vickie Elmer says that Bolles’s latest is more focused on the day-to-day realities of finding employment today, in this stinking recession. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: book, book review, Job Hunter's Survivial Guide, Richard Bolles, What Color Is Your Parachute?
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by Peter Lloyd for Recruiter Q&A
Software applications can train specific skills to creative, IT, and all kinds of employed professionals as well as to employees of staffing agencies. But the problem, one software developer claims, is not who is trained or what they are trained to do, but how well the training fits the company’s or client’s business needs. With this in mind, they’re developing software that syncs job training with business needs.
Not to be confused with the the Windows text editor or the gun-care lubricant of the same name, the new software, called Prolix, aims to ensure “proper alignment between individual training and business priorities,” according to “Software Solution Identifies Skills Gaps In The Workplace” in Science Daily. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: software, training
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