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Getting More Money From Your Boss

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In this area of puny or nonexistent raises, it’s tough to get extra cash from your boss.  It’s not impossible, though.  The magic word is bonus.  More and more, companies around the country are getting rid of annual raises and replacing them with bonuses.  About 30% of large and medium-size businesses now award bonuses, and many more are planning to start.  The big hitch is that even if your firm has a bonus program, you’re not guaranteed to receive a bonus.  The size of the bonus -if you get one at all -depends on your performance on the job and your employer’s profits.  Generally, bonuses range between 2% and 30% of your annual pay.  There’s one other draw-back to a bonus system.  Your benefits such as profit sharing, pensions, and life insurance typically are pegged to your base pay.  So if you get a juicy bonus, that money won’t be included when figuring your bennies.  To boost the size of your bonus, do whatever you can to show your boss just how useful you’ve been in marking your employer more profitable, efficient, or both. Read the rest of this entry »

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Holding On to the Job That You Have - continuation

• Cultivate work relationships. While office gossip may turn you off, office politics is one arena you can’t afford to ignore.  As with networking outside the office, the onus is on you.  Ask colleagues to lunch, those who work both beneath you and above you.  You may be surprised how a friendly conversation turns into an invitation to join an important meeting.  Don’t think your boss isn’t watching how you perform on this score:  the best managers are able to get along with all types, and the more you can demonstrate this at work, the farther along you’re likely to get. Read the rest of this entry »
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1st page - Holding On to the Job That You Have

Wake up in a cold sweat lately, roused from a nightmare where company cutbacks are mandated and the roulette wheel aims smack in your direction?  Welcome to the 1990s job world.  For the average worker, job tenure in corporate America has fizzled from a stalwart 12.5 years in 1984 to less than six years today.  Unless you’re a nimble and willing job-hopper, these statistics will no doubt seem a bit dismal.  You can’t control how the economy, new technologies, or just plain old back luck will influence your job longevity.  On the other hand, savvy employees with an eye on the future can help secure their footing by following a few rules: Read the rest of this entry »

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Tips for Four Types of Job Seekers - continuation 3rd part

• Ferret out sources for start-up cash. Franchisors often provide start-up capital for their franchisees.  Other owners of fledgling businesses will have a tougher time getting financing, though.  The most common source of money for entrepreneurs are friends and family members.  After you try tapping your circle, you may want to try your state’s economic development office, the Small Business Association, banks, or even venture capitalists -speculators whom you repay with money, equity in your business, or both.  Once you go to serious lenders asking for money, you’ll need to have a business plan that sings and the expertise to pull it all off. Read the rest of this entry »
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Tips for Four Types of Job Seekers - continuation 2nd part

4. If you want to create your own job. The dream of becoming an entrepreneur is a common one today.  Before you make that pledge of independence, however, consider the following brief tutorial on starting your own business.  Here are five key rules for would-be Bill Gateses: Read the rest of this entry »

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Tips for Four Types of Job Seekers - continuation 1st part

2. If you’re unemployed when your search begins. Millions of people will seek to enter the workplace this year.  Prime candidates:  women who took time off to raise their children and middle managers who have fallen victim to the corporate ax.  Dreading the job search, and how you’ll have to explain away any gaps in your resume’ while on the interview trail?  Well, take heart.  Career counselors emphasize that bows in and out of the workplace are now commonplace in today’s zigzag economy, and there’s no need to apologize.  Furthermore, workers who’ve had decade-long careers with one company have a valuable track record under their belts, often giving them an edge.  If you’ve had some black holes in your work life, try to mask them by charting your jobs year by year, rather than by month.  And if you were laid off, ask your former employer for outplacement assistance.  Don’t assume headhunters will pass you by. Read the rest of this entry »

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1st page - Tips for Four Types of Job Seekers

Smart career strategies depend on where you are in your career.  Here’s advice for the four different types of people who look for work:

1.If you already have a job. If the new job bug bites while you’re still gainfully employed, congrats.  You’ve got a leg up on the competition.  Surveys show that roughly 70% of all new hires are freshly plucked from another job rather than rescued from the unemployment ranks.  Do what you can to beef up your title and responsibilities at work before you start interviewing around.  You might even bargain for a better job title in lieu of a raise.  But pay attention to timing.  If you’re expecting a large Christmas bonus, perhaps you should postpone your job search until you’ve earned the money. Read the rest of this entry »

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Getting the Pay You Deserve

Here’s a bit of good news:  Wages for virtually all workers are on the upswing.  So don’t sell yourself short.  Before you go into the job interview, however, you should have a pretty good idea of what the job will pay and what the competition is paying.  Want ads in trade journals and local newspapers will help you establish this figure.  Better still, a contact at the firm or a competitor could clue you in. Read the rest of this entry »

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Acing a Job Interview

If you haven’t been on a job interview in a while -or ever -you may be surprised at the kinds of questions being asked these days.  For instance, you might be asked to write an essay on the spot about your past successes and failures.  Or you could be asked for an example of something that would make you a useful addition to the staff during your first year on the job.  You might even be given a psychological test to see if you’re the kind of person that the hirer is looking for. Read the rest of this entry »

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From Resume’ to Job - continuation

You may be surprised to learn just how rewarding temp work can be.  For starters, the pay is often decent.  Generally, temps earn hourly wages that are on par with full-time jobs in their  fields.  Some temp jobs even provide workers with health insurance and vacation pay.  Even more encouraging:  Roughly a third of all temporary positions now blossom into full-time gigs.  The best way to up the odds of getting hired is showing the company how it can save money.

With over 7,000 temporary employment services nationwide, there are plenty of places to hunt for work.  Aside from reading the classifieds, try calling personnel managers at companies where you’d like to work and ask for recommendations of whom they use.  Incidentally, you’ll find temp agencies in the Yellow Pages under “Employment Contractors -Temporary Help”.

If you are one of the millions who tap away ferociously on such on-line services as CompuServe or America Online, broaden your job hunt by surfing the various bulletin boards.  There’s no solid search on how effective this mode of job searching is, but recruiters are watching cyberspace carefully for possibilities.  You should, too.  For fees of anywhere from $10 to $50, some employment agencies will post your resume’ on one of several electronic databases seen by recruiters nationwide.  Or you can do it yourself.  Plugged-in types can now zap their vitae over the wires via services such as the Internet’s Online Career Center, which on any given day is clogged with 30,000 resumes’.

John Guare’s play and film Six Degrees of Separation carries a tantalizing theory:  For every person on this earth, there are but six individuals who separate us.  Meaning your aunt in Milwaukee, be some labyrinth measuring no more than six folks, has some connection to the pope.  Well, in corporate America this rule applies doubly.  And that’s why networking is a great way to land a job.  Far from the mere drudgery of attending industry conventions and collecting a Rolodex of business cards, however, serious networking requires careful orchestration.  It’s one thing to meet someone who may help advance your career.  It’s quite another to find ways of compelling that person to remember you and help you when you need assistance getting a job.

Successful networking is like a pyramid game -each person you elect into your circle gives you access to a completely new set of job contacts.  There are several ways to network like a pro:

• Join professional associations on the local level. You may feel lost at a trade group’s national get-together, but moving in on the regional scene gives you a terrific chance to get to know key players in your field.  Increase your visibility by joining a committee or helping to organize career workshops and networking get-togethers.

• Check out your college alumni network. In the past few years, many colleges and universities have stepped up their alumni programs.  There may now be a local chapter of your alma mater in your area.  Or your college might now have an electronic resume’ service for its graduates.  Call your school’s alumni office to see what kind of job placement is available to alums.

• Sweat the details. After you’ve met someone you’d like to include in your network, keep up the relationship with small gestures.  Thank-you notes after a lunch date are de rigueur.  You’ll stand out even more by sending a new contact things like relevant newspaper clippings, the names of other people in the field, or reminders of upcoming events.

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