CareerFood

So You Want to Make 100K...

Well you're in luck. There are a lot of legal great ways to do it. Forbes has a new article about surprising jobs that will put you over the 100 grand mark. Recruiting.com gets the credit and added a few more to the list.

In case you haven't seen anything that stikes your fancy, here are a few more...

• Construction Superintendent
• Insurance Agent/Broker
• Auto Dealership Manager
• Timeshare Salesman

Colleges are Destroying the American Workforce!

Well that's not exactly what they said... I was paraphrasing.

However, the people over at the Herman Group who put out the weekly Herman Trend Alert seem to think our skilled trades are suffering from "an over-emphasis on high school graduates going to university".

1st Reaction
WHOAA! What are you saying here? We shouldn't encourage everyone to go to College and continue their education? That's just wrong! That flies in the face of everything I hold near and dear! It's exactly this kind of attitude that is reason why the good ole U.S of A. is getting its tale kicked in math and science! Deep Breath. Serenity Now.

2nd Reaction
HMMMM?

3rd Reaction
You know what, this actually makes pretty good sense. What's wrong with encouraging young men and women who show interest or aptitude in these areas to go to a trade/professional school or enter an apprenticeship program. Do you know what a Construction Superintendent makes? Or a Master Electrician? Sounds like a pretty good living to me.

Two things to make this work:

1. Buy in from the High School educators and administrators, including more emphasis on career counseling and aptitude/interest profiling &:
2. Increased awareness to capture those college dropouts, the ones who go to community college or a university and decide it's not for them.

Bottom line...skilled trade doesn't mean ditch-digging.

Aristotle Said it Best

I was speaking with a candidate (and friend) yesterday and discussing the lack of results in their job search. I'm not getting any call backs, I'm not getting any second interviews, If i could just get someone to look at my resume, etc. etc. etc.

Listening to my friend expound on the reasons why she was not getting better results, I remembered a great quote from Aristotle...

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit."

ME: "What are you doing to change?"
HER: "Excuse me?"
ME: "You heard me...What are you doing to change? You're not getting results, you're job search is going nowhere, so what are you doing about it?"How are you changing your resume to get better results? What are you doing to get better at interviewing? What new and exciting ways are you using to get in front of hiring managers?

The same thing = The same results

What are you going to do to achieve excellence??

I Dream of...Banking?

Have you ever wondered what it would be like working for a bank? Well, according to a new article in the Biz Journal, the perks have gotten considerably better than Free Checking! Here are some of the benefits local financial institutions are offering new recruits...

• Full Relocation
• Car Allowances
• Signing Bonuses
• Paid Personal and Professional Coaching Services
• Free Daily Chair Massages

Just kidding about the last one...it might be nice though.

I know you're a big fan but...

do you really need to have Shakira, Jay-Z, Rascal Flatts, Kelly Clarkson, or any other miscellaneous singer, rapper, pop idol playing as your voice mail message when I call?

Yeah...I get it...you're passionate about the music, the hips don't lie! It's also really fun to change it up every once in a while, keep 'em guessing..."who's Eddie going to have on his answering machine this week?" "He's so crazy!"

If I can, let me offer one tiny piece of advice...If you are looking for a job and have this playing as your outgoing message on the phone you listed as your contact...well... it kinda (please don't take offense) gives the impression that you're a moron.

So you should stop...or at the very least switch to Jimmy Buffett (everyone loves a Parrothead).

Muy Bien

The City of Orlando and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce just announced a new job website targeted toward hispanics in Central Florida. You can read the Press Release here or take a look at the site.

Charge!

I came across one of my old Moleskines, that I use to jot down quotes, tidbits of information and random thoughts. As I was reading through it I came across the following entry:

General Patton Syndrome

1. Begin the charge.
2. Identify the objectives.
3. Hope someone follows with the supplies.

Wow! The applications are endless... Your career, your job search, your organization. Take a step back...are you suffering from GPS?