November 11, 2009 | Posted by JO
With unemployment high, there are people who are willing to move to another state to find work. This is sometimes a good move, as it has the potential to change someone’s standard of living. It can also open up new doors, relationships and opportunities. On the other hand, it can sometimes be a financial, emotional and physical disaster.
Working in Human Resources I’ve seen the toll a decision like this can have on families. Couples can get divorced. A great new job can become a layoff situation in a heartbeat. The culture and norms of the new geography may be hostile to you, your children or your spouse’s mindset.
A rich relocation package?
So if you are going to relocate to another state for a job, you’ll want to work with yourself and your family to minimize the financial toll and the emotional pains this might cause.
To that end I found a great website, called Relocation.com which had some great ways to avoid scams, plan your move and transition as smoothly as possible.
One article I liked in particular was one about saving money on your move. One of the suggestions that really struck a chord with me was the idea of eliminating 10% of your stuff. The logic here was that 10% of your crap, you could probably do without anyway and it will actually cost you an extra $300-500. As someone who has relocated twice, I wish this site was available about 10 years ago.
You might also want to consider reading Next Stop, Reloville: Life Inside America’s New Rootless Professional Class, by author Peter T. Kilborn.
This book may give you pause before considering the big move, or at least make you think it through before calling the moving company. One of my favorite quotes from this book was the following: “By buying houses similar to those they leave, Relos concoct illusions of stability that allay the trauma of moving.”
Next Stop, Reloville: Life Inside America’s New Rootless Professional Class
One last thing I want to say about relocation — watch out for employment “clawback” clauses that will seek for you to return relocation money. I am familiar with a company (won’t say who) who offered thousands of relocation dollars to someone but the person had to pay back a pro-rated share if they left the new company within the first 13 months. The person was not sure the company would be laying her off, so she quit, got another job in a different state, and the firm that offered her the relocation went after her for the money. They subsequently did layoff that department, so in essence she made a good decision and was punished for it. So watch what you are signing for when the recruiter is happily sending you all the on-boarding materials.
Categories: Career, College Grads, Unemployment | 
Tags: relocation, Unemployment | 
No Comments »
November 11, 2009 | Posted by JO
“Throw away the briefcase: you’re not going to the office. You can kiss your benefits goodbye too. And your new boss won’t look much like your old one. There’s no ladder…but there’s a world of opportunity if you figure out a new path.”
-From May 25th Cover of Time Magazine “The Future of Work” article.
Time does a good job of capturing the sea change moment we find ourselves in their “Future of Work” cover story. In the article the highlight ten lessons that we should walk away with which will presumably help us navigate the course ahead and be more successful. While the article is great, informative and occasionally offers some fresh insight, I believe Daniel Pink and his book, A Whole New Mind, actually does a better job at giving us a distinctive and creative way to look at the skills we should be developing for the next ten or twenty years.
A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future
In his visionary way, Daniel lays the framework for why the workplace we know is shifting right under our feet and how it will look in the future. He also is specific about what we should do to survive it.
Daniel’s book has made such a profound impact on me that I have published an article that offers some key takeaways from his book. You can find it here.
Categories: Career, College Grads, Mid-career | Tags: | 1 Comment »
August 22, 2009 | Posted by JO
I will be teaching a debt management workshop at the college this upcoming week. Preparing for the course got me thinking about how I was able to eliminate a huge chunk of debt by following a simple formula, which I discuss in this article:
Riddled with Debt? A Simple Three-Step Plan for Annihilating Debt.
In this article I advocate having a plan, taking action and getting on the same page with your significant other. Along with three simple steps, these actions can make you feel more secure, peaceful and confident. Those are good things to have in one’s life. This runs counter to a lot of advertisements that promise debt consolidation loans and some other magical pixie dust which will solve all your problems. Please avoid these things like the plague. There is no silver bullet, and even the temptation of declaring bankruptcy is not as simple or as uncomplicated as it sounds. Your best odds of success is to take control and take the debt head-on if you want it out of your life. I hope you find my article helpful.
Categories: Getting out of debt | Tags: action, cash, debt, emergency fund | 1 Comment »
August 12, 2009 | Posted by JO
August 12, 2009
I just posted a whopper – about 5,000 words, all on identifying bad boss behavior and developing an action-plan to deal with him or her. I hope you enjoy it and find it helpful.
If you have this particular situation in your life, I am sympathetic. I have had to deal with this personally, several times over the course of my career. And in my profession, this is all too often, a valid complaint from employees. Some 37% of employees surveyed in one study said their bosses did not give them credit. 27% said that the boss talked badly about them behind their back.
While there are tyrants and tin pot dictators out there in the workplace, keep in mind that there is a little saint in every sinner and a little sinner in every saint. Sometimes the bad boss doesn’t know that they are pushing your buttons and creating terrible morale. Other times you may have a mostly decent boss, but they engage in just one or two of these non-prosperish behaviors.
Check out the article for tips on how to deal with this troublesome obstacle to prosperity and show your friend.
Categories: Employee | Tags: bad boss, Employee, good boss, manager | No Comments »
August 5, 2009 | Posted by JO
Working with college students has given me a unique lens on their prospects for making more money as they move through their careers. One of the things that pains me is watching students, not far along in their college experience, seriously begin questioning whether they are 100% committed to finishing school. I see this soul-searching in the lower division classes at the 100 and 200 level I teach. There are many who never make it past community college. Even at the university level, a 2005 MSNBC article reported that only 54% of students were finishing their degrees (6 years after they started). And the data gets even worse for Hispanics and blacks.
Dangerous Times
The first two-to-three years in school is a dangerous time for students. They are typically still feeling the invulnerability of their teen years. They are largely free from family responsibilities. And the temptation to make slightly more in the short-term, without a degree is real. Unfortunately the temporary boost in pay by working full-time is typically short-lived. From my experience – I know that if students don’t finish school it gets much harder for them to make the real bucks over the long haul of their careers. Take a look at this chart:
Stay in school kids!
So it’s best to finish school. I had one of my students recently share with me that in the hey days of the real estate boom, she made close to 400,000 in one year. She put off plans for school (I probably would have too!) and then the real estate market crashed (ouch). She was starting back up at community college, trying to buildup her professional skills, but now she is thirtyish and a single mother. It’s going to be a hard road for her. I wish her the best of luck.
Consider another story about a honest and truly great executive I know. This woman has immense integrity and was an inspiring leader. Despite her great people skills, she was laid off from the mortgage industry in 2008. Now this person has been out of work for more than a year. Part of her dilemma is that she never finished college. Many of the filtering tools used today by recruiters in large companies pretty much automatically route non-degreed management candidates right into the garbage bin.
Student Loan Shenanigans
Of course, at the other end of the spectrum, I don’t advocate going to school by borrowing either. Borrowing with a 1-in-2 chance of finishing is a double whammy. But consider this as well; the entities that lend money to those students are fully aware that about 1/3 of all undergraduate loans will go into default. That’s a pretty high default number. By comparison, home equity lenders manage their loan portfolios with a only a 2% default rate. Why would banks lend money to low-income producing students with such high default rates, you ask? Is it because “someday” they know these kids will earn lots of money? Nope.
It’s because student loan debt is not bankruptable. The banks will eventually get their money from the borrower. I’m all for people paying back what they borrow, but this spells disaster for too many young Americans, especially the ones who are not graduating with their degrees. Students, even ex-students, do not have the same bankruptcy protection that works for other types of consumer loans. These products are marketed to a somewhat unsuspecting audience, and the disclosure rules are not as tough as they are for credit card lenders (which means smoke and mirrors for the borrower).
This was a heinous bit of lobbying effort which was passed into law about 10 years ago. If this makes you angry, StudentLoanJustice.org can give you a list of people to blame. Perhaps if enough parents, educators, students and concerned citizens will band together, we can demand that this be changed, but I’m not holding my breath. Just to have full disclosure, I don’t have any student loans, never did, but I definitely have had family members and people I love stuggle with this.
So, remind yourself the next time you are staring at a “financial aid” package for yourself or someone you care about, that the average college graduate has $20,000 in student loan debt. And then ask how much student loan debt do the dropouts have? Or consider the two students in James Scurlock’s documentary Maxed Out, who committed suicide because they got in over the heads in credit card debt.
The Right Balance
So, I advocate for going to college, but having students working part-time and paying for it as they go. If parents or relatives can help out, great. But the family should not be taking out loans either, not unless they like horse track racing. If you are a proud and anxious parent and you are tempted to co-sign a loan to fund junior’s college, remember those default rates for students – they are very, very high.
If students stay on task, pace themselves and develop the ability to finish what they started, that will lead to the best scenario. If you are a parent, friend or relative of someone who you think is struggling — offer some encouragement, or perhaps pay for a textbook. They will be educated, experience long-term success and the income will follow. I’m sorry – I don’t know when they will move out though.
Categories: College Grads, Home | Tags: College grads, community college, default rate, degree, education, graduates, income, lobbying, prosper, student loans, university | 5 Comments »
August 4, 2009 | Posted by JO
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August 2, 2009 | Posted by JO
I just volunteered at a homeless shelter last month and during my time there I learned an interesting fact – most Americans are 2-3 paychecks away from homelessness. That got me thinking about my previous post on job security. I wanted to share an idea that worked wonders for me on many different levels– the idea is to simply build up my financial security to a more robust level, and then I will not have to worry as much about my job security. I have gained a greater peace of mind from doing this. The effect of focusing on my financial security was profound. At work, I was no longer petrified of being fired. I had put some distance between me and the statistic I mentioned above. I realized too, that if my employer shut down, I would be okay. Improving our financial security even made my wife feel more safe and secure — that was definitely a good thing.
If you want to try this, my suggestion would be to build an emergency fund, of 1-2 months living expenses. Take a little bit of what you earn each week and put that aside in an cash emergency fund. I attribute this idea to Dave Ramsey and his Baby Steps. In his plan, he wants you to put $1,000 in an emergency fund as soon as possible. The fund is cash, not stocks, bonds or other investments. This money is stored in a bank or money market account. He recommends that you be able to access without too much time delay, but not make it so easy to access that you are tempted to spend it on pizza. He sets the emergency fund at $1,000 for his initial baby step, but I found that I did not get all of the wonderful fruits (especially on the job) until I had 2-3 months of living expenses covered, which for us, was a little higher than $1,000 in the bank. Even just the $1,000 achievement felt great though.
Make a commitment to build your fund up then don’t touch it (unless an emergency does happen). I was amazed at how relaxed and confident this made me feel at work. I had more peace of mind and less fear. That’s good. What happened next though, was unexpected and transformational. That little boost in self-confidence and peace of mind translated into me being a little more willing to speak the truth, or inspired me to take tougher challenges, and to take some risks. And you know what? The increase in pay and other rewards followed. Since establishing my emergency fund, I saw my pay go up by 20% in about 14 months — powerful stuff. Thank you Dave Ramsey!
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Categories: Home | Tags: emergency fund, homeless shelter, job security, paycheck away from homelessness, victim | No Comments »
August 2, 2009 | Posted by JO
“I want job security.”
I hear this a lot, and even before the economy went into the tank. And no one generation has the market cornered on wanting job security. I hear the “s-word” from students I teach at college and from employees of all types. Job security sounds good…lifetime employment, a comfy pension, retiree medical, and if I work extra hard, promotion into the executive ranks…sweet..no wait. That’s all gets scrapped when the company goes under or bought out. Even if you and I are lucky enough to be at the helm of a sturdy ship, our skills are constantly at risk of being replaced with automation or outsourced entirely. Ug.
So you are playing the odds when you chase job security. Eventually, you will leave your job – and more often these days, not of your own choosing. Job security is important, it can bring you some measure of prosperity, but it’s also become more elusive.
There are all manner of pitfalls to watch out for: downsizing, outsourcing, bankruptcy, buyouts, bailouts, and bad management, to name a few. Still, we suck it up, day after day, show up for work, do a great job, and try not to become hot twitchy blobs of paranoid jelly. The days of setting a singular path in your early twenties and sticking with it for decades are long gone. I recently read that if you are under 30 right now, the chance of you being laid off at some point in your career is close to 60% – that is a downright slap to old-school job security.
There has to be an alternative mindset. I believe that part of that mindset, is focusing on “employability,” instead of job security.
This worker thinks she has job security.
Quickly defined, employability is developing an extremely marketable skillset, and continually trying to improve it. It is also developing your professional flexibility. And at its absolute core…it is you taking action, not waiting for someone else to guide you.
For me, one of the paths to get there has been working on a career plan that can be changed as often as I like. The plan builds on skills to extend my success in my chosen profession. It also is focused on building on my innate strengths.
You need a career plan that allows you to pick-up new things along the journey – this builds your skill flexibility. In my profession, human resources, having people skills is paramount. However having a top-notch technology skillset puts me in very rare company. There are probably similiar opportunities in your career field. We als need a plan that is multi-purpose as well; it should be built with a “plan b” in mind. But the most important thing is that on my career plan, I make a commitment to work on it, now and in the future.
I try to update my career plan every 2-3 years. This keeps me constantly on the look-out for opportunities to expand or enhance my skills, some of which my employer will pay for in the meantime. With each new skill I acquire, I build more marketability and versatility in myself. My ability to transfer my skills is much stronger than my colleagues who have maybe being doing the same thing, coasting on cruise control for many, many years.
Highly-employable worker.
So I encourage you to make a commitment to yourself now that you will always spend a little time constantly learning..every week and every month. A good place to look for high-leverage skills are places where others see a problem and nobody else wants to tackle it. If your co-workers are avoiding some issue like the plague, that could be a strong signal of where to go looking for problems to solve.
This is how executives (the good ones) do it and how they become executives. They see a problem, they act before anybody else acts, and then they become the hero. As you can imagine it pays off for them very well from a career planning perspective.
And it’s perfectly okay to change that career plan any time you want. If you do this, and you stay in a constant learning-mode, it will make you highly employable. Good economy or bad economy, your skills and talents will be in demand. If a job layoff does occur, you will be the one ready for it.
To summarize this powerful strategy:
1. Drop the old job-security mindset. It doesn’t work very well.
2. To build your employability, create a career plan and update it.
3. Your career plan should have a list of skills you want to develop.
4. Base your skill building on where you think your profession is going.
5. Create some development opportunities for yourself:
(education, classroom, books, mentors, experiences)
6. Be on the lookout for a newly emerging problem that everybody else is avoiding.
7. Figure out how to fix that problem, and transform yourself in the process.
8. Review, update and change your career plan often.
This works for me and many other people I know; it will work for you as well. I can tell you that I experienced job growth, promotion and a pay raise all in the last 12 months, the same 12 months that the economy imploded. I will post a career planning template later this month, but the thought process above should help get you started if you don’t have one. Start prospering!
Categories: Employee | Tags: career plan, college, downsizing, employability, executives, human resources, job security, multi-purpose, rut | 2 Comments »
August 2, 2009 | Posted by JO
Below is a link to a great article posted a while back by Pinyo at Moolamoney. It talks about 40 ways to generate alternative income. I’ve tried out some of the ideas myself and was surprised in a good way. Thank you to Pinyo.
40 plus ways to generate alternative income at Moolamoney.com
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Categories: Alternate Income | Tags: Alternative Income, Craigslist, Dividend, Ebates, income stream, moolamoney, passive income | No Comments »
August 2, 2009 | Posted by JO
“The economy is bad, so it will be much harder to get a job, right?”
Are you making the assumption that since the economy is bad, it will be hard to find a position, or find a highly desirable position? Keep in mind that while unemployment is high, most people are working. One way of looking at employment is reversing the meaning of the statistics you hear in the news. If unemployment “soars” to 8%, then reversing that means 92% of the 140 million strong workforce in the US are employed just fine. That’s not as newsworthy, but it’s true.
And this workforce ages every year (tipping past 40 average age this year), and many (millions) of them will retire or downshift each year. That should open up some opportunity. Also keep in mind that the education you are acquiring in school is completely fresh, while those of us who have been in the workplace for 10 years plus, have a “shelf-life” to our education and degrees. Your newly minted skills and recent education is an advantage that employers will need.
I would also recommend taking the additional step of trying to identify job markets that may be traditionally overlooked (non-profits for example, or internship programs which a seasoned, laid-off person would not want). You can often find well-paid, meaningful work, and increase your probability of success because you are looking where others can’t or won’t look. Comments?
Categories: College Grads | Tags: degrees, economy, education, internship, job market, shelf-life, Unemployment | 1 Comment »
