Category Archives: 21st Century Job Search

Stop Making Excuses for not being Profitable!

I hear a lot of excuses from people as to why they aren’t profitable or why they can’t get a business up and running online.  It’s the same story different day.  For years people have been guilty of procrastination and excuses.  It’s part of our make-up, it’s in our DNA. 

It’s only when we decide we want more, decide we are fed up and decide we going to take control of our income and our lifestyle that we begin to make progress.   It’s after you hear that first “ka-ching” and make that first sale that you realize you have something to offer that the world wants.  So go give it to them!  There is nothing wrong for getting paid what you are worth.    What are you waiting for?

The first step is the hardest to take.  Just take the first step!

Crystal O’Connor is a single Mother of 3 kids and she can show you how to get started. 

www.moxiemompreneur.com

A Test to Identify Entrepreneurs

A Test to Identify Entrepreneurs

Harvard researchers have a way to help banks screen loan applicants easily. The goal: to spur lending to small and midsized companies in the developing world

By Caroline Winter

From Business Week

1. Do you like taking things apart to see how they work?

2. Do you enjoy going to parties?

3. Given five seconds, how long a sequence of numbers can you memorize?

If your answers to these and about 150 other questions add up, you could run a small business in Nairobi. Or Lima. Or Bogotá. All because a new test identifies the traits that make for successful entrepreneurs in developing economies.

The Entrepreneurial Finance Lab (EFL), a branch of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for International Development, has devised a psychometric test to help banks in emerging markets easily screen loan applicants. The goal is to spur lending to small and midsize companies, a vital sector often underfunded in the developing world. These companies are too big to rely on microfinance, yet not big enough to be served efficiently by the banks. “There are millions of businesses in developing countries that could earn significant returns on additional capital that aren’t financed,” says Bailey Klinger, EFL’s director. “And it’s not that banks aren’t interested in them. Quite the opposite. They just don’t have the right tools.”

The 40-minute computer-based test assesses traits like honesty, ethics, intelligence, and motivation. The EFL says three years of pilots in South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Colombia, and Peru have shown that the test achieves the same—or better—results than traditional ways of assessing a borrower’s future success and ability to repay a loan. With the test, local banks can cut default rates by 25 percent to 40 percent, says D.J. DiDonna, EFL’s director of business development. They will also be able to extend loans to clients whose credit histories are sparse or nonexistent.

In developed countries, psychometric tests are widely used by blue chip companies to evaluate possible hires. Klinger and his colleague Asim Khwaja came up with the idea of applying these tests to evaluate creditworthiness, in part because academic research showed that characteristics like IQ influence the rate of credit returns. The EFL consulted industrial psychologists, studied the literature on entrepreneurs, and extracted elements from existing tests. The resulting evaluation can be customized to reflect an applicant’s business, company size, and country, though the core questions remain the same. The EFL says the tool can save banks time and money, since standard screening can take three days or more when banks don’t have existing borrowing histories to draw on.

South Africa’s Standard Bank, the continent’s biggest, has signed on to become EFL’s first paying client and roll out the test in South Africa and Kenya this August. “We’re hoping a flagship client like Standard Bank, as they scale up quickly, will open the door for other banks,” says DiDonna. “As you can imagine, banks are pretty risk-averse.” If the test works in Africa, EFL hopes to introduce it to the U.S. and Canada, where many immigrant entrepreneurs also lack credit histories and collateral.

The bottom line: Harvard researchers have devised a simple, inexpensive way to test the business skills of would-be entrepreneurs in emerging markets.

How to Attract Talent to your Startup

How to Attract Talent to your Startup

By Issie Lapowsky

From Inc.com

Employees are valuable. So are referrals. That was the thought behind Meebo’s decision to offer a $5,000 reward to anyone who referred qualified potential employees to the company that launched in 2005. The only stipulation? People would only get paid if the candidates got hired.

As an instant-messaging and social media service, Meebo never really had trouble finding and attracting talent. They offered employees referral bonuses, posted on job boards and committed themselves to so-called “guerilla recruiting.” But they realized, some time in May of this year, that they had 10 high-level jobs to fill and they hadn’t been using all of the resources available to them to find the best talent. They hadn’t yet reached out to their massive user network.

So, Vice President of Human Resources Tom Perrault and his team decided to offer the public the $5,000 prize.

“Good talent is going to make the difference in the growth of our organization and in the future,” says Perrault. “So we’re willing to pay for good talent.”

The referrals the company got, especially from vendors and external partners were, in Perrault’s words, “spot on,” and the experiment was a success. The moral of the story, though, is not that you have to throw money around to attract top talent.

Instead, the takeaway message for recruiting is: play to your strengths (in Meebo’s case, it’s networking), be active, not passive, and get your name out there. This guide will provide a few recruiting tips, as well as what to look for in a new hire and how to entice the best talent.

How to Attract Talent to Your Start-up: Face-to-Face Interaction

No matter how small the internet has made the world, experts still recommend in-person networking as the No. 1 way to recruit talent.

“I’ve done a lot of placing people into positions, and I have never used a job board as a way to do that,” says Rich Sloan, co-founder of StartupNation. ‘Personal [interaction] is so much more powerful and important to me.”

Start at your local Chamber of Commerce, which should list information on industry events happening in your area. Don’t stop there, though. Research local industry groups and associations. “Every type of business has their own meetings,” says Martin Zwilling, founder and CEO of consulting group Startup Professionals. “You’ll find people who know your business and are looking for opportunities.”

Even if you don’t find employees at these industry events, you will at least make contacts who understand your needs and will put you in touch with other people they know.

Or, you could create your own networking events, as Meebo did. Perrault says the company started scheduling Meebo meetups around the world and asking fans and users to come out to rub elbows with the Meebo staff.

“We’d say, “Hey, we’re going to be in Chicago. We’re going to be in Japan. We’re going to be in New York. If you’re interested in Meebo, come to XYZ coffee shop,'” he says.

At these events, they hand out cupcakes and t-shirts. Once, one of Meebo’s founders even played JavaScript bingo with people who showed up. They wanted to give guests a memorable experience because, says Perrault, “It wasn’t just about recruiting. It was about building a community, and people who show up to those things have a heightened interest in Meebo.”

Even if you don’t have a huge network of people to advertise your meetups with, you can always try becoming an official Meetup group to get the word out.

And don’t forget about schools and universities. Job fairs abound, so it’s wise to get in touch with career counselors at both local schools and schools that have high-performing graduates in your field to see how you can get involved.

“Every university makes efforts to get interconnected with the entrepreneur community,” Zwilling says. “They have outreach programs, and the people who are involved are the people who will find you interns and people who will be graduating soon.”

Meebo judges and sponsors programming competitions at schools like MIT, Stanford and Berkeley, so they can see firsthand where the real talent is.

Dig Deeper: How to Improve Your Hiring Practices

How to Attract Talent to Your Start-up: Use the Internet Wisely

No one wants to sift through endless responses from a job board listing. You may find the right candidates in the end, but you’ll waste precious time separating what Perrault calls “the weak from the champs.”

This is not to say, however, that you can’t find good talent for your start-up online. In the era of social networking, there are tons of sites dedicated to matching qualified applicants with the right employers, includingStartupersVentureLoop and Startuply. You can even try InternshipIN to find people while they’re still in school.

Make sure, when you register for these sites, that your profile reflects the spirit of your company. That goes for your Facebook presence, too. If your business is casual and fun, you’ll need people who are attracted to that type of environment, and your time will be best spent if you find these people from the very beginning.

Dig Deeper: How to Use Social Media as a Recruiting Tool

How to Attract Talent to Your Start-up: What to Look For

“There are certain kinds of people who thrive in an environment with the risk profile and anarchy of a start-up,” says Sloan. “Start-ups demand great working relationships. There can be no issues.”

This means the cultural fit is equally as important as what’s on a person’s resume. Zwilling recommends looking for people who are results-oriented, people who can tell you what exactly they’ve done in their careers. As you probably know already, responsibility gets pretty evenly distributed in a start-up with a small staff. You need to know that people can produce when given that responsibility.

“I hear a lot of people talk about what their job description is, but I’m looking for results,” Zwilling says.

He also recommends looking for someone who is “attracted to the promise of a big win.” The road may be rough at first, but someone who’s ready to see your business through and can tell you why it’s worth it to them is someone you want on your team.

If your business requires long or odd hours, look for someone whose other commitments aren’t going to prevent them from contributing. And, most importantly, you should steer clear of people who list being tired of the corporate world as one of their main reasons for applying. That doesn’t automatically mean they’re ready for the start-up world, either.

Preempting these issues is key, so Sloan suggests putting all potential employees through a training session. He says, “The test period will reveal what the dynamics really are.”

Dig Deeper: The New Rules of Hiring

How to Attract Talent to Your Start-up: What to Offer

As a start-up, you might not be able to offer top talent all the benefits and employee perks that a big corporation can, but what you can offer is the promise of purpose and independence.

According to Sloan: “People get involved in a start-up for three reasons. One, they like creating, being part of something new. Two, they want to participate in the upside. Three, they want to live a meaningful life, and the closer you are to the success or failure of a business, the more meaning and purpose you feel.”

Without a corporate ladder to scale, employees at start-ups can also start out with higher job titles, which can be a big incentive for driven individuals.

No matter how driven a person is, though, he or she will still want to be reassured that the company will be around a few years from now. Sloan suggests being open about your financial situation, discussing your business plan and demonstrating knowledge about your place in the industry. You don’t want your new hire to face any surprises during the first few weeks.

In addition to promising purpose and more important roles, many start-ups have another secret weapon to help them secure top talent: a casual and fun working environment. If you’ve got one, don’t be afraid to show it off. Meebo puts all its new hires through a three-hour work simulation, in which new hires not only get to demonstrate their skills, but they get to see how the office operates day-to-day.

“If we get them in the door, we have a fighting chance,” says Perrault. “When we do the debrief, every single person says, ‘It’s so easy to see the enthusiasm of your employees, and it’s infectious.'”

Dig Deeper: 10 Employee Perks We Love

How to Attract Talent to Your Start-up: Always Be on the Lookout

Don’t lose recruiting momentum just because you’ve filled all current positions. “Even if you don’t have an opening right now, eventually you’ll have an opening, and you need to get people interested, so by the time you’re ready, they’ll want to join you,” Perrault explains. “If you’re not recruiting all the time, you’re not doing it right.”

Sloan suggests keeping a running list of all the people you meet or hear of who impress you. He calls it a “Superstar list.” “It’s good to always keep track of outstanding people,” he says, “because you never know how or where you can plug them in.”

Even when you’re not actively recruiting, you can still engage talented people in non-traditional forums. Meebo posts JavaScript puzzles on its site, and every once in a while, when someone does particularly well, Perrault’s team may contact that person to discuss job opportunities at Meebo.

“It’s so clear to everyone here that recruiting is not just an HR job. Everybody here understands recruiting is the lifeblood of our organization,” Perrault says, “and that makes for a richer and stronger recruiting process.”

Writer posts hilarious fake help wanted ad

Craigslist: The Grand Experiment

By Clint Olsterholz

From AllFreelanceWriting.com

Do freelancers have a limit? I’ve noticed that there are a lot of crappy jobs posted out there, but I have always wondered if they actually get replies. So I figure you guys know me well enough by this point. What do you think I’d do?

Damn right I posted a fake job posting! Look what I wrote.

New exciting blog involving many differing toppics and we look for someone like you! We need writer who can make toppics on subject like:

  • Angelina Jolie Brad Pitt new babies
  • Louisiana gulf oil spill
  • Barack Obama healthcare
  • Sarah Palin Alaska hunter
  • Lindsay Lohan
  • Justin Bieber YouTube

I am hoping you can get back to me! You work for us as intern but we pay well. Your article must be 100% original or we will not pay! You must writing perfect English. You must also not stealing articles! Article stealing is very not good. You work for us for 100% original articles. Words on article must be 1,000+.

Thank you! Please email!

I did not list a written rate because I screwed up–I had originally intended to list the rate as $1 per article. But the responses, oh, they made it worth it.

See, I wish I could provide you with a list of comedy responses, but I don’t have any. I had two Americans with serious job inquiries who live here in New York. I immediately confessed to them, and one has decided to become an AFW reader because she’s frustrated with crappy Craigslist jobs (hi, Ashley!). Two other Americans called me out instantly, and one turned out to be a humor writer. We swapped a couple articles to make the other laugh.

I got five serious inquiries to which I replied with a “grammer test” where I listed the rate at $1 per article. Not a single person, as of this writing, thinks that’s a fair rate. I had a couple people who I confirmed from other countries such as India who outright ignored my followup email, so it seems as though there’s a limit to how little someone will work for. I’ve seen rates even worse than the one I posted, so it makes me feel great knowing that those jackasses aren’t exactly awash in candidates.

Most people had a good sense of humor but I knew it wouldn’t last. By 6 PM, I was flagged for removal for violation of Craigslist’s terms of use. I don’t know if I ended up offending someone or if my job demands disgusted someone, but either way I’m pretty glad the posting didn’t even last 12 hours.

Where’s the funny? I lied. There were a couple funny responses. Starting with this one, which was apparently sent to me by the guy who sits next to me on the subway and points at his own reflection angrily.

Want very much to blog for you. Have many axes to grind. One of them is the gun lobby. The other is Lady Gaga. For instants: Who does she think she is? She goes to a Yankees game with her pudendums showing below her bikini line, and you know for sure, she has been shaving that area and not using aloe on it afterwards. How do I know? With a common jeweler’s loop, If you look through the large end, at the newspaper picture, you can see goose flesh. Is that attractive? (If you look through the small end, you can’t see anything, so don’t even try it.)

The next, we have the gun lobby. The only people allowed to carry guns should be inner-city white executives. They need to carry large amounts of cash on pay day in envelopes for their employees, so they should have prioritee. People don’t understand this, because they don’t understand infra-red-structure. It’s what makes cities cities. Gun lobbyists want everyone to carry guns, and that’s just bonehead. Here is an interview I personally conducted on the street of a major large city:

Question:   Would you carry a gun?
Answer:      Only if my life was threatened, or if I knew how to use it

So, I think that proves the average man/woman/man-woman (and their hard to spot, but they need to be represented, too) agrees with me, so I would have an excellent basis for a mandate to blog. The majority would be with me, because I speak sense and carry a big schtik.

Some doubted my veracity.

Is this real?

Others really doubted my veracity.

Are you the person going around Craigslist complaining about the jobs being offered?

Some failed to see why I needed to hire a writer.

That’s not perfect English; in fact, much of what you write in your ad is not close to being perfect English.

Which is why I need a writer! This last one, though, kills me. Even though my posting was a joke, never, ever apply for a job with what this guy said. Ever.

Okay, I’m listening…

So the grand experiment is now over. What do you think?

About the author

Some find jobs overseas…teaching English

Some Find Jobs Overseas … Teaching English

By Catherine Durkin, Kristen Aguirre and Louis McGill

From ChicagoStorytelling.com

Late in the afternoon, John Bacon’s students begin to get aggravated with their English teacher. But their teacher is quick to remind them that if they have a bad attitude it’s not going to be a fun class.

“Most of the days are good,” Bacon said. “The kids can be frustrating sometimes but I’m frustrating to them and we try to work around that,” he said.

The children leave at 6 p.m. and Bacon heads home to drop off some belongings. His love for Korean food has caused him to cook less in his new home country so he opts for his favorite restaurant. While it might remind him of a good old-fashioned U.S. diner, the menu is quite different and less expensive.

“Dinners are incredibly cheap and you get a lot of food. I’ll get a bowl ofbibimbap, which means mixed rice with vegetables and spicy sauce, and then they’ll bring up some miso soup and some side dishes with that, for about 4,000 won which is only $3.80,” Bacon said. “So I eat out… a lot.”

Bacon seems to live the life of a young average American, and yet he is living abroad in Korea teaching young children English.

“Originally the very first reason [I left for Korea] was that I was having a lot of difficulty finding employment fresh out of college,” Bacon said.

Like many graduates, Bacon was faced with rising unemployment rates which left him jobless and forced him to find other sources of income. That search ultimately led him to teach English as a second language overseas.

“At first I was intimidated about teaching ESL but the more I read on it the more interested I got and the offer sold me,” Bacon said.

TEFL Institute students during a class. (Photo by Catherine Durkin)

And more recent graduates are going the same route. The opportunity to live abroad, study a new culture, and most importantly make money is attracting more recent grads. The Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) Instituteis a school that helps young adults to get certified to teach and find a job abroad.

Established just five years ago, the TEFL Institute vows to take English worldwide. The program certifies adults to teach English abroad in foreign countries. Through online and on campus classes, the institute certifies 1500 students yearly and has over 25 locations all over the world, with their Chicago location as its headquarters.

The institute registers students all year round and currently has students ranging from ages 18 to 80. Vice President of the TEFL Institute, Bruce Jones explained that enrollment has doubled every single year since opening, and has about 125 students per month compared to only 80 last year.

“Since November of 2008 when the whole financial meltdown happened, we started getting a lot of people who were in real estate who could not sell anything,” Jones said.

TEFL Institute students doing coursework. (Photo by Catherine Durkin)

Once enrolled at TEFL, students must complete 100 hours of class time as well as 20 hours of student teaching in order to become certified. The students are trained in language and teaching methodology, grammar, teaching speaking skills and many other subjects in order to be fully prepared for their job overseas.

“Basically the students eat and breathe TEFL during their intensive certification course,” said Lauren Baker, a marketing specialist for TEFL and former ESL teacher.

Baker went through the TEFL program and taught in Chile for a year. She says that the benefits from teaching abroad vary from country to country, but a common trait in ESL teachers is a passion for travel.

“I went when I graduated college at 22 and was having a great time going out and traveling, while spending everything I earned,” Baker said. “But you have a different mentality while abroad that you want to do as many things as you can.”

Bruce Jones and Lauren Baker of the TEFL Institute. (Photo by Louis McGill)

But first the new teachers need to land a job. After being certified, TEFL shows students how to interview, write cover letters, create resumes, and other skills regarding future employment that can be found through the TEFL job bank. Advisers also give students tools to have a successful experience as well as help them decide what location would be best for them.

“Our job is kind of like parents,” Jones said. “We train them to be independent, but they will always have support. The schools overseas also give them orientations which answer all of the questions they may have such as where is the closest grocery store.”

Kate Bek is a newly certified ESL teacher and published writer. She will be leaving for China this June.

“The recession in the US was a huge part of my reevaluation of career path,” Bek said. “I plan to stay for one school year – August through June, but I never know if the wind will keep me longer. I am not yet nervous – more so excited and focusing on arranging my life in accordance with leaving it all behind for a year,” she said.
Jones says that American English teachers typically teach for one year overseas before coming back to the states, as only one percent stay long term. And while the unique job opportunity offers many things to learn and see while teaching overseas, as to be expected there are some things to be missed.

“I miss my friends and my family, I don’t really miss the U.S. so much” Bacon said. “I don’t miss the scene of going out in the U.S. because it not to much different over here, but when I read about get-togethers and things it kind of hurts, because you can’t go even if you wanted to,” he said.

However while many recent graduates are waking up on their parents’ couch, Bacon is just getting to bed under Korean skies.

“If you have a good attitude about it you will have a blast” Bacon said. “You can travel, experience new culture and the food is enough for me to come back to Korea.”

Audio interview with John Bacon on why he moved to Korea to teach English. Listen to more audio interviews on VodPod:

Recession and Education

Photo by Flickr
Photo by Flickr

Every day brings news about more layoffs, companies shutting down and escalating levels of unemployment. It’s no wonder that students and employees find the entire situation overwhelming. In today’s market, traditional forms of employment are becoming tougher to come by and looking for that ‘perfect’ job may seem impossible. But all is not lost. There are still some industries that are going strong and some perhaps doing better than ever before. These are the careers that will lead the future of business and discovering them at a time like this is invaluable. The earlier you start planning for these specific careers, the safer your future will be once the economy has regained stability.

So how do you plan your education and choose a career that’s right for you during a recession? If you want to recession-proof your career, focus on jobs that stay stable even when most people don’t have disposable income to spend. For example, even though shopping and entertaining might be in a slump, people will still continue to get sick, pay taxes and use energy irrespective. The following are some of the careers that are expected to stay stable even during the current economic crisis.

Education – There is always a shortage of good teachers. Down turn of the economy or not, children will continue to go to school and many adults may resort to furthering their education after being laid off. Therefore, teachers will always be in-demand. Children will continue to go to school. Also, lots of unemployed adults may decide to further their education.

Healthcare – The healthcare industry remains unaffected no matter what the economic situation. More effective medication and longer life spans have also given rise to a whole new demographic of senior citizens that demand special health care services. Health care administration is also an information-driven career, which might prove especially appealing to those looking for a career change from information technology.

Auditing – In a recession, the demand for auditors and accountants are much greater as businesses and individuals monitor their expenses and books more carefully and do a lot more to receive greater tax deductions.

Energy and Utilities – While consumption of energy may reduce, it will never stop. This is the same for other utilities as well, so careers related to maintenance and utility administration is always a stable option.

Pharmaceuticals – As long as health care is in demand and doctors prescribe drugs, people are still going to take them. This means that a career in pharmaceuticals is a good choice.

Military – Joining the military has several advantages. All your living expenses are covered and your education may be subsidized as well. Since the military is always hiring, particularly during wartime, soldiers remain unaffected during a recession.

Security – Recession might lead to an increase in criminal activities so the need for security workers and the police force becomes greater.

Environmental Sciences – The trends towards eco-consciousness is always on the rise and choosing a career in environment-care-related industries is a good option.

Government – The government does not stop functioning even during a crisis. Working for the government is therefore an extremely lucrative choice.

International business and consultancy – During the crunch time of a recession, companies call in consultants to advise them on efficiency and optimizing resources.

Debt Management and collection – As unemployment rates increase and budgets tighten, many fall back on payments. Companies and individuals need to turn to debt management plans and collection agencies to recover their losses.

Multi-faceted careers – Try and rely on a secondary source of income for more security. Include investments and freelancing along with your regular job to decrease the odds of a crisis.

So, whether you are still in college and planning your career, just starting out, or are in between jobs, look for the following factors when choosing a recession proof job:

• Jobs that remain in high demand
• Careers that require specialized skills
• Businesses that provide goods and services regardless of the economic situation
• Companies that have the foundation to weather the downturn in financial cycles

If you have already graduated and have been laid off recently, another way to cope with recession is to consider a career shift. There can be no better time to create a new path for yourself and use this opportunity to switch to a different career path. Remember that no job is a hundred percent secure but as mentioned above there are still some industries where the demand is so great that finding another job would be very easy. This would be the best time then to go back to school and either complete your education or get a graduate degree. The key to future success lies in your hands and the time to make the correct choice is now.

California College San Diego (CCSD) has trained graduates for new careers in high demand jobs since 1978. It offers associate, bachelor and graduate degrees in healthcare, business management, accounting, business administration, computer networking, computer programming and computer science. California College San Diego has the longest running premier Respiratory Therapy program in San Diego and also provides accelerated college degree programs with its FastFlex courses. Various I.T. degrees like Computer Technology and Networking Degree, Computer Programming Degree and Computer Science Degree are accredited by the ACCSCT.