Employment and Unemployment in the 209

Did you know that in San Joaquin County…

• The county unemployment rate is 15.9% while Alameda County is 9.3%?

And..

The top 3 fastest growing jobs are:

• Personal and Home Care Aides ($9.86/hour),
• Information Security Analysts, Web Developers, and Computer Network Architect – ($36.11/hour)
• And other personal care and Service Workers such as beauticians, barbers, disability care workers, and food service workers – (pay rate varies)

Looking at the unemployment rates and taking into account the dramatic difference between the rate of pay for the 3 top fastest growing jobs, you must notice that unless you’re interested in spending the time and money needed to gain very technical skills, the quickest route into the workforce appears to be some sort of personal care.  Personal care jobs are often viewed as “low-skill” jobs; and as you can see from the rate of pay that these type jobs generally are low paying jobs as well.  While you many not want to make a life-long career in such low-skill/low-pay jobs, I encourage you to go ahead and enter (or re-enter) the workforce through the door that is open.

Getting in the workforce will help you:

1. Develop even more skills (particularly soft-skills which employers say are 87.5% of almost every job).
2. Build your confidence level and your general feelings of usefulness.
3. Send a message to your family and friends that you are still workforce-minded, thereby minimizing the amount of time available to do random activities that really are  low priority time-busters.

I have found, particularly in the 209 area code, the conditions of the job market have many people so despondent they’ve found solace in doing “random activities“.  What I say to you is this:  make those activities count for something.  Use them to give you an edge into a new world or work. Unemployment benefits will not last forever. Just take a look at South Carolina’s new unemployment rules coming in 2012.  Under these  new rules, after a month of collecting benefits, the unemployed must now accept any offer for a job that pays at least 90 percent of what they used to earn. After 5 months, workers must accept a job that pays minimum wage, or $7.25 an hour. South Carolina’s unemployment rate has hovered around 9% for a few years (like California).

It won’t be long before other states plagued with high unemployment rates (like California) may look at similar alternatives.  I can take a hint; can you?

Work in Collaborative Teams?

From Microsoft Clip Art Gallery

Are you one who insists on working in isolation? True, there are some tasks that just work out better when a single person does it; but even with those, receiving input from others will usually result in a better end product. So, here are a few things you can expect from working collaboratively. By knowing these up-front you can get mentally prepared to cope with the stress of working in a team.

When participating in a collaborative work team…

• you will probably feel like your work is being challenged.
• you may have to defend your point of view.
• you may feel confused at times.
• you may watch or be involved in something that looks and feels like an argument.
• you will learn just how differently people interpret a data, something that is said, and information that is read.
• you may find yourself “shutting down” (but don’t do it).
• you may have to take a deep breath and hang in there until the final outcome is reached.

So, why put yourself through all of this?

Collaborative teams produce the most innovative, holistically solid solutions to problems that occur in the course of business.  Additionally, collaboration is the best way to address and resolve any systemic problems that may keep a business from being as profitable as it could be.

Something you can keep in mind is this: collaboration always happens between people, so good communication is vital to the success of the team.  Good communication is the only way to clear up misconceptions and will make the difference between a successful project and an unprofitable use of time.

So, hang in there with this one. You can do this.

~ Keep your head up! Michelle Walker-Wade

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“Occupy Student Debt”? I Understand… But I Must Pay Up

I attended Oral Roberts University for ONE year studying Christian Education & Psychology. After seeing the amount of debt accumulated for that year, my parents said: “Come home…” I cried and cried… prayed asked God for a miracle so I could stay at ORU. But, to no avail.

I went home, started working as an accounting clerk and went to school part-time studying accounting. I continued working in the field of accounting for several years while preparing to do more meaningful work.  I eventually got there.

Years later I do not regret it one bit. I’m degree’d in Liberal Studies and Business Communications, and have hard-core skills and work experience that allow me to fund into ministry work. Having graduated from a Holy Names University, a private, Catholic institution, I took out even more student loans.  I am still paying for my education, but in my situation I believe I glorify God by paying my loans.  However, (just as an FYI) I neither agree nor disagree with the Occupy Study Loan initiative – but I certainly understand.

Related Articles:

• Occupy Wall Street Moves Into New Phase With Student Debt Refusal Campaign
• America’s Financial Institutions and Student Lenders — Attention: OWS “Occupy Student Debt” Committee Has Something to Say
• Occupy Student Loans???
• Marketplace Ministry – Christian Young Adults Get in Position

Occupy Student Loans???

Occupy Student Loans??? Really???

Careful with this one protesters! Your latest plan to stop making your student loan payments, forcing them to default could come back to bite you in your golden years.  Sallie and Fannie don’t mind waiting for their money.

I have paid (and am still paying) my share of student loans and I consider myself blessed because I am able to actually use the education I’m paying for. Contrary to some of the ideas of the Occupy Student Loans initiative, I do not believe higher education should be free. I do think people should REALLY consider the reality of the higher ed price tag before signing up. As one who is in education management, I wish I could convince our western society of how beneficial it is to get a hard-core, money-making skill and some work experience before pursuing the career of their passion – you know, the one that may or may not produce financial stability.

Here’s an informative video produced by InflationUS called “College Is A Scam”.  It’s about 1 hour in length, very interesting and informative.  While I DO NOT agree with everything said, I must say it is quite enlightening.  I recommend you watch it with an open mind…

While I neither agree nor disagree with the Occupy Study Loan initiative, I do hope these young people understand the dicey risk they’re taking.

~ Michelle Walker-Wade

Poll – What Components of a Résumé Make the Biggest Impact?

Cast your vote please!  You may choose up to THREE!

Also, if you are a HR professional or a hiring manger, please feel free to add additional comments and share your perspective.   Thank you!

I look forward to seeing your replies!

~ Michelle Walker-Wade

Things That may Cause Your Résumé to Get Ignored

Tons of people are on the hunt for a job. Some are hunting more fervently than others, putting out résumés for every job in sight, yet getting no bites.  So what are some reasons that may cause your résumé to get ignored?  I’m sure you’ve heard that your résumé should be error free with no typos. While I agree with this as a goal, I must tell you that I have in fact called in an individual for an interview who had a less than perfect résumé.  So, let’s consider a few other résumé faux pas I believe can hurt you:

• Your résumé does not have the correct vocabulary or keywords for the job or industry for which you are applying.

 

• You have included the job or industry keywords, but you have not used them in the correct context of the job; it looks like you’ve found the right words to use, but have no idea how to use them.

 

• When comparing the body of your résumé to the job posting there is no connection between the two. The way I see it, if you did not take time to show me how you qualify for this open position, I cannot take the time to figure it out either.

 

• You either have not included accomplishment statements or the accomplishment statements you have included seem too unrealistic; this makes me wonder about your integrity.

 

• You have an unprofessional email address listed in your contact information. Email addresses are free, so why not get one appropriate for business?

 

Lastly – and this is a true story – I once received a résumé from someone who had logo images next to each of the company names for which he had worked.  The images, obviously obtained from the company’s websites, were smudgy and pixilated.  This person’s intention was to get my attention – to make his résumé stand out in the crowd. I personally did not care for this approach, and I would not personally use this strategy; but it did make me vividly remember his résumé.  I interviewed him because other than the company logos, his résumé looked good, and he could have been the right person for the job. Although I ultimately did not hire him, more than 2 years later, I still have his résumé in my files… Not sure why though.

Your résumé is your marketing advertisement for yourself. I believe you would be better off putting additional time and intentional effort into improving the quality of each résumé instead of going at full-speed sending out the same old one.

~ Go do it! – Michelle Walker-Wade

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Skills Needed by School Clerical Support Staff

We surveyed clerical support workers at several K-12 school-sites to find out what skills current school clerical support workers needed most to do there jobs more efficiently (click to see results). We also surveyed local residents to find out what barriers kept them from taking the courses needed to improve their work and career outlook. The number one response was: time. If time is limited but you want to gain more skills, online classes may be a good alternative to traditional classes.
School clerical support staff; consider these online classes as an option to learn ways to work more efficiently and effectively.
 

Communications

•  Grammar Refresher- Gain confidence in your ability to produce clean, grammatically correct documents and speeches.  (click here: http://alturl.com/t2mso)

• Effective Business Writing – Improve your career prospects by learning how to develop powerful written documents that draw readers in and keep them motivated to continue to the end. (click here http://alturl.com/pt7f8)

Administrative Support

• Administrative Assistant Fundamentals – Prepare to take advantage of the many new job opportunities in health care, legal services, and other industries. (click here: http://alturl.com/54mhm)

• Introduction to Nonprofit Management – Develop the skills and strategies you need to become an integral part of one of America’s fastest growing service sectors. (click here: http://alturl.com/hevub)

Computer & Technology Skills

• Intermediate Microsoft Word 2007 – Learn more advanced features of Microsoft Word 2007, which enable you to create an index, a list of figures, and a table of contents, do desktop publishing, perform a mail merge, and use timesaving macros. (NOTE: If you do not feel ready for Intermediate Microsoft Word, take Introduction for Microsoft Word 2007 first). (Click here: http://alturl.com/rn8b4)

• Introduction to Microsoft Excel 2007 – Do you work with numbers? You need to know Excel. Learn the secrets of this powerful application. (click here: http://alturl.com/cnk8y)

• Photographing People with Your Digital Camera – Learn to take beautiful pictures of adults, children, and babies. (click here: http://alturl.com/a3amu)

Other Recommended Courses

• Handling Medical Emergencies – Every second counts during a medical emergency. Learn how to respond if someone needs your help. (Click here: http://alturl.com/p2par)

• Designing Effective Websites – Learn powerful graphic design techniques and build Web sites that are both attractive and wickedly effective. (click here: http://alturl.com/jxyyf)

• Introduction to Adobe Acrobat 9 – Create PDF documents and more with Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro, and learn to use many of the software’s time- and cost-saving features. (click here: http://alturl.com/igq56)

If you want to become the Office Manager, consider these courses as well:

• Fundamentals of Supervision and Management – Learn the people skills required to motivate and delegate, and learn tools for solving problems and resolving conflicts. (http://alturl.com/wrnoh)

• Accounting Fundamentals – Gain a marketable new skill by learning the basics of double-entry bookkeeping, financial reporting, and more. (http://alturl.com/jznd8)

• Accounting Fundamentals II – Give yourself skills that are in high demand by exploring corporate accounting with a veteran instructor. (http://alturl.com/k3vjj)

• Introduction to QuickBooks 2009 or 2010 – Learn how to quickly and efficiently gain control over the financial aspects of your business. (Click here: http://alturl.com/8i7s6)

Check it out and share your feedback.  Thanks!

- Michelle Walker-Wade