Business Administration Education Guide: 2007-07-29

Is it time to upgrade your career skills?

According to a MSNBC news article new job creation slowed down in July and didn’t meet the expectations predicted in January by economists. Construction, manufacturing, retailing and government jobs seemed to have the most job loses. However, Edward Lazear, chairman of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, said businesses are still eager to hire and the want of new employees “is still very strong.”

One of the potential reasons for the loss of jobs and weak hiring outcome is said to be directly tied to the decline of the housing market, seesawing economic activity and high energy prices.

The bad news in July

Construction companies slashed 12,000 jobs
Manufacturers shed 2,000
Retailers cut a thousand.
Approximately 28,000 government jobs were eliminated.

The good news in July

Education and health care added 39,000 jobs
Leisure and hospitality expanded employment by 22,000
Professional and business services added 26,000 new positions.

Hiring new employees has cooled off in July and has pushed the nation’s unemployment up to 4.6 percent, a six-month high. The average time unemployed people spent in their job searches was 17 weeks in July, which is up from 16 weeks in June.

So wile the employment news is pretty ad there is anther side that many unemployed people don’t know about. The Federal-State Unemployment Insurance Program provides unemployment benefits to eligible workers and has many programs they may assist you in advancing, strengthen or even changing careers if eligible. In addition, many states have Federal-State funded career centers (in California their called One-Stop Career Centers) which has a big kiddie box of career tools that will help you locate a job, build career skills and prepare you for your new job.

One-Stop Career Centers are sort of a one shopping mall for all career needs. Most centers offer assistance in

Job search assistance
Job listings
Access to phones, Internet, printers, fax machines, copy machines
Career & job workshops
Information on wages and trends
Community resources
Referrals to other services

Unemployment offices offer benefits such as

One-on-one specialists to identify your skills and help find a job
Veterans with disabilities program
Workforce Investment Act (WIA)

If you qualify for WIA you can receive assistance in / with

Tutoring, study skills training, and instruction leading to completion of secondary school
Alternative school services
Job & education mentoring
Locating internships, apprenticeships, and job shadowing
Occupational skills training
Leadership development
Guidance counseling
Supportive services and follow up

Unemployment also has what is called Unemployment Insurance Extended Benefits

Unemployment Insurance Extended Benefits

“Extended Benefits are available to workers who have exhausted regular unemployment insurance benefits during periods of high unemployment. The basic Extended Benefits program provides up to 13 additional weeks of benefits when a State is experiencing high unemployment.”

Other U.S. Department of Labor programs include

Disaster Unemployment Assistance

Special programs for individuals in disaster areas declared by the President.

Trade Readjustment Allowances

Federal program for workers unemployed because of U.S. trade policies.

Self Employment Assistance

Special voluntary state programs in a few states for workers starting a business

Look up your states Employment Development Department website and see what your state has to offer. They’re your benefits, you’ve earned it!

Extra

Career One Stop: Provides a suite of tools for people to use at any stage in their career

Labels: Career Centers, career training, careers, jobs, unemployment rate

It's NEVER too late - 94-year-old woman has earned her masters degree

A 94-year-old woman has earned herself a masters degree in medical science from the University of Adelaide.

Great-great-grandmother Phyllis Turner left school at 12 years old to help raise her 9 siblings but always wanted to go back to school.

After marrying and raising her own family she finally took the time to fulfil an ambition at the grand old age of 90.

Labels: career training, careers, college, education

Employer Liable for Employee’s Illegal Use of Internet January 2006 By: Robert G. Brody

Employer Liable for Employee’s Illegal Use of Internet January 2006 By: Robert G. Brody (Founding Partner) and Richard S. Moskowitz

(Associate) at the Labor and Employment Firm of Brody and Associates, LLC

A New Jersey corporation was liable for harm to third persons as a result of an employee’s activities on a company owned computer. The New Jersey appeals court ruled the company had a duty to report the employee’s internet activities involving child pornography to the police and to take internal action to stop them. Having failed to do so, the employer was liable for harm caused to the employee’s step- daughter and ex-wife.

Read the whole story here
Source: Jim Stroud

Hot Markets Hot Careers

ORLANDO, FL

Hottest jobs:

Senior mechanical engineer ($80,400), physician's assistant ($76,000), IT project manager ($75,200), construction project manager ($71,200), electrical engineer ($64,900)

LAS VEGAS, NV

Hottest jobs:

Construction project manager ($78,800), IT project manager ($74,600), construction superintendent ($71,900), civil engineer ($70,000), executive chef ($65,500)

RALEIGH, NC

Hottest jobs:

Senior software develeoper ($91,000), software project manager ($87,300), senior network engineer ($84,100), IT project manager ($83,300), pharmaceuticals project manager ($82,300), biotech research scientist ($75,300)

CHARLOTTE, NC

Hottest jobs:

IT project manager ($83,000), senior software developer ($82,900), regional sales manager ($80,500), senior financial analyst ($72,900), construction project manager ($71,200)

PHOENIX, AZ

Hottest jobs:

Senior software developer ($84,800), IT project manager ($78,600), semiconductor process engineer ($78,000), physician's assistant ($76,200), construction project manager ($74,000)

WEST PALM BEACH, FL

Hottest jobs:

Senior software developer ($86,100), senior mechanical engineer ($81,800), IT project manager ($80,400), construction project manager ($73,200), construction superintendent ($73,000)

TAMPA, FL

Hottest jobs:

Senior software developer ($80,900), senior IT systems engineer ($75,500), IT project manager ($75,000), nurse practitioner ($70,200), construction project manager ($67,400)

RIVERSIDE, CA

Hottest jobs:

Physician's assistant ($78,800), construction project manager ($77,600), manufacturing plant manager ($77,200), construction superintendent ($75,800), construction estimator ($68,600)

AUSTIN, TX

Hottest jobs:

Senior software engineer ($97,800), senior electronics design engineer ($97,500), senior software developer ($92,700), computer hardware engineer ($83,600), semiconductor process engineer ($81,600)

ATLANTA, GA

Hottest jobs:

Regional sales manager ($86,400), senior software developer ($84,900), IT project manager ($83,000), business process/management consultant ($76,500), senior financial analyst ($72,100), construction project manager ($70,300)

SALT LAKE CITY, UT

Hottest jobs:

Senior software developer ($81,600), electrical engineer ($73,800), IT project manager ($69,200), financial controller ($67,200), construction project manager ($65,800)

JACKSONVILLE, FL

Hottest jobs:

IT project manager ($79,400), senior software developer ($77,800), financial controller ($76,800), physician's assistant ($75,900), construction project manager ($74,600)

DALLAS, TX

Hottest jobs:

Senior software developer ($88,500), operations director ($84,800), IT project manager ($84,500), regional sales manager ($84,300), financial controller ($83,200)

SAN ANTONIO, TX

Hottest jobs:

Senior software developer ($83,900), physician's assistant ($78,400), IT project manager ($76,800), human resources director ($75,800), construction project manager ($66,300)

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL

Hottest jobs:

Senior software developer ($84,600), financial controller ($78,600), IT project manager ($75,700), HR director ($73,500), construction project manager ($72,700)

Source: CNN Money - America's best jobs in the hottest markets

Labels: administrative jobs, career training, careers, changing careers, employment, relocation

Thousands of adolescents work as unpaid baggers in Wal-Mart’s Mexican stores.

The retail giant isn’t breaking any laws.

Wal-Mart prides itself on cutting costs at home and abroad, and its Mexican operations are no exception. The company’s practices have aroused concern among some officials and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that Wal-Mart is taking advantage of local customs to pinch pennies at a time when its Mexican operations have never been more profitable.

Wal-Mart is Mexico’s largest private-sector employer in the nation today, with nearly 150,000 local residents on its payroll. An additional 19,000 youngsters between the ages of 14 and 16 work after school in hundreds of Wal-Mart stores, mostly as grocery baggers, throughout Mexico—and none of them receives a red cent in wages or fringe benefits. The company doesn’t try to conceal this practice: its 62 Superama supermarkets display blue signs with white letters that tell shoppers:

"OUR VOLUNTEER PACKERS COLLECT NO SALARY, ONLY THE GRATUITY THAT YOU GIVE THEM. SUPERAMA THANKS YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING. "

The use of unsalaried youths is legal in Mexico because the kids are said to be “volunteering” their services to Wal-Mart and are therefore not subject to the requirements and regulations that would otherwise apply under the country’s labor laws.

Federal District Labor Secretary Benito Mirón Lince. “In economic terms, Wal-Mart does have the capability to pay the minimum wage [of less than $5 a day], and this represents an injustice.”

In its defense, Wal-Mart says it fully complies with a 1999 agreement covering the teenaged baggers that the Mexico City municipal government negotiated with the Supermarkets and Department Stores Association of Mexico. The company also says it goes beyond the obligations of that accord, awarding bonuses twice a year to baggers who maintain high grades in school and also providing accident insurance that covers the kids not only when they are on duty, but also when they are en route between home and workplace. The company’s written statement cited a study conducted by the Mexican government and a U.N. agency that found that teenagers participating in the baggers’ program were less likely to use illegal drugs than peers who panhandled or hawked merchandise on city streets.

Read the rest here

American Airlines to test in-flight Wi-Fi

August 01, 2007 (Computerworld) --

American Airlines Inc. will test in-flight Wi-Fi services across the U.S. starting next year, according to the airline and its Wi-Fi provider AirCell LLC.

Other airlines are reported by Engadget and others to have expressed interest or have planned tests for 2008 with similar in-flight technology, including Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Southwest Airlines Co. and Qantas Airways Ltd.
Business and leisure passengers on American flights would be able to e-mail and surf the Web from laptops and handheld devices while in flight aboard 767-200 aircraft primarily on transcontinental routes, according to a statement from Itasca, Ill.-based AirCell.

"We understand that broadband connectivity is important to our business customers and others who want to use their PDAs and laptops for real-time, in-flight broadband communications," said Dan Garton, executive vice president of marketing at American Airlines, in a statement.

The cost of the service was not announced, and American did not say whether passengers will be allowed to use Skype-type voice services from their devices to make voice calls. Some airlines have been concerned about voice calls in-flight disturbing other passengers nearby.

Lufthansa is also interested in adding in-flight Internet service.

Read the rest here

Labels: airlines, computers, customer service, internet, traveling

Kids take on lunch lady -- and win

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AP) -- Even someone who believes you can fight city hall might think twice before taking on the lunch lady. But some second-graders who raised their voices over reheated frozen green beans are being rewarded with tastier vegetables.
art.lunch.gi.jpg

Pupils are beginning to speak up about the quality of food at school cafeterias.

The menu at William V. Wright Elementary School is getting a makeover after Constantine Christopulos' class went on a poignantly polite letter-writing campaign aiming to see less of that particular vegetable in the cafeteria.

"A little boy said, `Anything, anything, I'll even eat broccoli,"' said Connie Duits, the lunch lady. "So that one touched my heart."

The children were careful to offer praise as they expressed their concerns.

"Dear Mrs. Duits, The food is so yummy and yummy. But there are one problem. It is the green beans," wrote Zhong Lei.

"We love the rest but we hate the green beans," wrote Viviann Palacios.

The Las Vegas students undertook the exercise in mini-democracy after the class read a book called "Frindle," in which a boy contemplates organizing a boycott of the cafeteria.

"I asked the kids, 'Is that a respectful way of doing it?"' Christopulos said. "And they said, 'Oh, not at all."'

As a result of the students' campaign, the food service department of the Clark County School District sent staff to the school to see what alternatives they preferred.

With a handful of reporters watching, two dozen students sat down Monday to a veritable salad bar of cooked, frozen and canned vegetables, from baby corn to cherry tomatoes, and filled out a survey.

Because of cost restrictions, the children's only real choices were between canned and frozen green beans, corn, cooked or raw carrots and cooked or cold peas.

Corn and carrots were popular; cooked peas, not so much.

"The cooked peas, it's warm and all, but inside of it, it's all soft and stuff and I don't like it," said MacKenzie Rangel.

Brenden Lucas said he liked the raw carrots, "Because it's hard and crunchy."

Some children got downright prolific when asked to write what other foods they would like for lunch or breakfast. Viviann requested "stake" and lobster, while Logan Strong wanted "chocolate filled panda cookies" and "chicken cordon blue."

While not all the requests would be accepted -- and green beans would still occasionally be served -- district supervisor Sue Hoggan said the survey will help district dietitians "tweak" the menu.

"They were so excited to get a response back," Christopulos said. "I taught them the pen is mightier than the sword, and hopefully they remember that forever."

Labels: debates, dietitians, gas boycott, kids, lunch, survey

College adds PowerPoint to application

In a first, the University of Chicago will begin requiring prospective students to submit four pages of PowerPoint-like slides with their applications this fall.

The new requirement is partly an acknowledgment that Microsoft Corp.'s PowerPoint, along with similar but lesser-known programs, have become a ubiquitous tool in the business world. But Chicago says so-called "slideware," if used correctly, also can let students show off a creative side that might not reveal itself in test scores, recommendations and even essays.

"We wanted to have a freeform space for students to be able to say what they think is important, not always having the school run that dialogue," said Rose Martinelli, associate dean for student recruitment and admissions. "To me this is just four pieces of blank paper. You do what you want. It can be a presentation. It can be poetry. It can be anything."

"If there's one foundation of business, it's innovation, and this is your change to elevate yourself and show you can do something innovative," said Nicole Chestang, chief client officer for the Graduate Management Admission Council.

Source: Associated press

Labels: college