While the economy continues to dwindle and more jobs are lost, there is some advice experts have to offer those on a job search.
The United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics states the country lost 240,000 jobs during October, while the unemployment rate increased from 6.1 percent to 6.5 percent. This means the country has lost 1.2 million jobs so far this year. According to an article by the Boston Herald, some experts are taking this time to offer advice to job seekers.
First, it's helpful to use professional networking sites such as LinkedIn. These sites can help you identify what kind of job you're looking for and what your skills are, as well as connect you with important resources, potential references and possible employers.
You also can offer to work on a temporary basis if you're not currently employed. This is a good way to gain experience, keep your current skills up-to-date and learn new skills. A move like this also can help get you in the door. Another option is to work with a recruiting firm that offers free job placement services.
"We're going to have a stronger network," Bill Driscoll, New England district president at Robert Half International, said in the article. "We're going to know what companies are hiring and the skills that are in demand."
Job seekers can volunteer for nonprofit groups, which allows them to make valuable networking contacts that can help find a new job or career while performing a valuable service. Also, nonprofits are more likely to give people looking to switch careers useful experience in jobs where they currently lack necessary skills or credentials to be hired for paid positions.
One tried and true tactic is to network through professional associations, friends and colleagues. If you know your skills, you can seek out private career coaches or institutions offering career counseling.
"If you're lucky, you might hear of something before it gets posted somewhere," Maria Stein, director of Career Services at Northeastern University in Boston, said in the article, adding job sites are a passive way of looking for work. "You post your resume and post your profile, and then you sit back and wait for someone to contact you. I wouldn't necessarily put all my eggs in that basket and assume that's the most effective way to find a job.
Job seekers should network as much as possible, which will increase the odds of your resume being read. It's also important to be flexible.
"It's a good time to be more flexible," Lynne Sarikas, director of the MBA Career Center at Northeastern University, said in the article. "In a tough economy, you may not be able to get your dream job at your dream company. But there are jobs, and so it's finding an opportunity that helps you develop skills and experience that will better-qualify you for that dream job down the road.
"The other caveat that I give to students is flawless execution," Sarikas added. "There's absolutely no tolerance in this economy for mistakes on your resume, mistakes on your cover letter and not following up after an interview."
As business and technology have grown, so have the programming tools and processes that support them. Everyone is familiar with Visual Basic (VB) and the impact it has had on the programming world.
But were you aware that programming in Excel has a huge following as well?
Excel jobs are growing in demand as more and more businesses are discovering the unique benefits of this system. As a programmer, you most likely have used the VB (Visual Basics) tools for development. Your ability to use VB tools to create, test, enhance, and execute program enhancements is second-nature to you.
Beyond VB, through Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), you have the experience to leverage Excel as a more valuable and efficient tool for business. And VBA provides the background and experience necessary for filling the need in available Excel jobs.
Now is the time to evaluate the many demanding positions in Excel jobs to find one that is best suited for your skills and expertise. VBA enables you to optimize the capabilities of Excel and create a robust, information-management application that will increase productivity and efficiency for the end-users.
The fun part of Excel jobs is that you are able to change the end-users experience through visualization / appearances, menus, and much more. Creating UserForms and using VBA code to modify Excel menu systems are just a few of the ways your programming skills can enhance the use of this valuable software tool.
And as an expert in Excel jobs, you can showcase your knowledge by creating new worksheet functions to be used in formulas, automate operations, or create other advanced worksheet functions.
Take your VBA skills to a new level through Excel jobs and make spreadsheets sing!
Your value to the organization will be immeasurable.
Everyone has, at one point or another, asked themselves "what kind of jobs are in my area?" Whether actually looking for a new position or not, it is important to keep up to date on this sort of information, especially in times of economic uncertainty. With talk of a national recession, many who fully believe their job are secure could end up unemployed with little to no warning. Those who have kept abreast of what jobs are in their area will have an easier time finding new employment.
Staying well informed about local employers' hiring needs doesn’t mean that you have to constantly Google search "jobs in my area" or anything that time consuming. In fact it can be done almost passively. For starters, Myspace has teamed up with Simply Hired to provide users with a small widget on their each personal main page that lists jobs in their area. Click on edit and type in your industry or specific job title. Now you're all set to be casually reminded about whose hiring in your city. Every now and then, take a few moments to look over what the opportunities surrounding you are. Other social networking sites are also beginning to make this available to their users, so you're not limited to Myspace alone.
Another way to stay on top of what employers are looking for in your area is to sign up for job alerts. Many job search engines allow users to sign up for e-mails that will let them know when job listings for specified industries or titles are posted. Even if you aren't looking for new employment at the moment, these notifications can come in handy later on. It doesn't take much effort to create a separate folder to store them in so that they can be accessed when needed.
Staying in touch with your social network can lend a big hand towards being knowledgeable about your area's job market. Since people love to talk about their lives, which usually involve family and work, many little bits of information will be passes your way simply by carrying on discussions with those whose company you already enjoy. When the topic of work is brought up, simply ask a few questions that direct the conversation in a direction that allows you access to the information you need.
Not only does staying well informed about the jobs available in your area help out when it comes to search for new employment; it can also give you a good idea about your particular career's outlook in your hometown.
Finding a job via the internet can be an intimidating experience if you’re not savvy to some of the options available to you. Monster.com recently boasted the posting of it's eleven millionth resume! That's a lot of resumes – and a lot of competition for you.
What can you do to find a job via the internet and increase your personal exposure to some of the best companies? Why not go straight to the source and contact the company directly?
Most companies now have a "jobs and careers" section on their websites. This is a great way to review the open jobs and required qualifications. Once you know more about what they are looking for, you can actually tailor your resume and highlight your skills and experience that are most directly related to a specific job online.
When you visit a company’s site directly, it indicates that you are interested in working for that particular company and industry. This could enhance your ability to make a direct contact and receive an invitation for a face-to-face interview, since you have shown your personal interest in them. Taking the time to learn about a company and visiting their website directly shows them you are serious about your job search and you want to be part of their team.
Finding a job via the internet takes some creativity and patience. Don’t just rely on the mega job boards to find the right job. Think like an employer and you'll identify even more creative ways to reach the right person who can connect you to the best job possible.
Veterans have proudly and selflessly served our country to protect our freedom and our lives. Now what will they do for a living? The experience, skills, and leadership learned as a veteran prepare them for just about anything that corporate America can throw at them!
Many organizations and companies make it a practice to actively recruit veterans. They recognize the value that veterans bring to their organization through their life experiences and their ability to stand up for what they believe is right. A simple internet search for veteran jobs demonstrates this quickly.
As a veteran, there are many popular career choices. Some of the more obvious include aerospace and defense, engineering, guard, and reserve. But there are the “not so obvious” that create opportunity and diversity for veterans. These jobs may require additional education, technical training, or on-the-job training, and the value they bring to an organization is worth the investment.
WHAT JOBS ARE VETERANS SUITED FOR?
Jobs in teaching and education can especially benefit from a veteran's exposure. Veterans have proven their ability to thrive, learn, and train in a structured environment.
Customer service focused jobs are a natural fit for veterans. They have served “us” as their customers under difficult and sometimes unbearable circumstances while protecting our rights and safety.
Healthcare jobs present a welcome challenge for veterans who have often provided physical and mental aid to colleagues with minimal training. They are conditioned to handle the life and death situations.
Security jobs are a natural fit for veterans. Their training in combating fear and anxiety in difficult situations helps to prepare them.
Information technology and related jobs which integrate the on-the-job skills learned in the military by veterans, with advanced technical training, equips them successfully.
WHY ARE THEY GOOD CANDIDATES FOR THESE JOBS?
Veterans have the aptitude to quickly master technical training.
Veterans possess a strong sense of purpose, ability to effectively lead or closely follow a leader, and a proven ability to establish loyalty for a cause.
A veteran's ability to handle pressure, manage multiple priorities, and work under stress and tight deadlines is unquestionable.
Veterans possess positive work traits such as managing physical demands, following policies and procedures, and handling the mental demands of a job.
They are reliable and dependable, typically with high integrity and a strong sense of purpose.
It is our responsibility to collaborate with veterans and identify ways to provide the education, training, and support they need to succeed. Their real-life experiences combined with additional training make them the ideal candidates for jobs in every industry and business sector. They have given so much for us – now it’s time for us to give them a chance.
At one point or another, everyone wishes they had more money. No matter how hard someone tries, there are times when the ends simply can't be forced to meet. Most individuals simply tighten their belt and suffer through the loss of the enjoyable extras they make life more pleasing. For one reason or another many people completely overlook the idea of getting a weekend job.
Between working a forty hour week and trying to care for a family, many Americans simply don't think they have time for a second job. After all, who wants to put in a full day at the office only to drive to another job? Instead of totally denouncing sleep, one should consider getting a weekend job.
Aside from actually getting a full eight hours of shut eye, a weekend job allows one to have more free time than with other part-time employment. In some circumstances one can even find positions that only need an individual to work on one specific day during the weekend,
Weekend jobs aren't just for college students any more. For starters, this option is favorable for two income families. Part time jobs, for example, allow one to be home with their kids in the evenings. If only one individual gets a weekend job, then the other may take care of the children, which saves the money that would otherwise be spent on a baby-sitter.
Other individuals who might benefit from this option include those who are trying to save extra money for a special trip and the terminally bored.
These positions aren't limited to the local burger joint or supermarket, as one might think. A variety of positions can easily be found, via the internet, for everyone from nurses to experienced sales managers. Due to the diverse weekend employment opportunities, one can easily find a job that pays more than the minimum wage that many expect from a second job.
Locating a weekend job through the internet is as easy as using a job search engine. All one has to do is type “weekend” in the keyword box and all such positions will be found on the results page. Jobster.com alone has over 50,00 weekend jobs listed.
Finding a job on the Internet is a hectic thing. That is until you know how a proper job search works. With millions of websites online, this can be a very time consuming process.
If you just type in freelance jobs, on a search engine, you get millions and millions of pages. But, if you type “freelance writing jobs” in quotes, you narrow it down considerably, and chances are you are actually finding jobs now instead of sites that just have the word “job” in them.
Of course, half the fun is filtering through all the garbage to find the good stuff.
Some great places to check are Workopolis and Monster. These two are both online job banks that feature full time jobs to entry level jobs to freelancing gigs. You can trust that the jobs you find on here are legit and honest. They also allow you to search by country, region, city, and job position. These two sites are the ones most used by employers for business related jobs.
If you are looking for freelance writing jobs you can check out freelancewriting.com, getafreelancer.com or www.elance.com. These sites do cost a fee, either for membership or bidding on jobs. So if you are low on cash I don’t recommend using these.
Another place is on Facebook's Marketplace. You will find local jobs, to online freelance ones. MySpace also has a classifieds that you can check. I would be careful about these because anyone can post to these, so you really have to check to make sure it’s an actual job and not something else.
The number one place to find jobs online I believe is Craigslist. This online classifieds displays different cities and countries, so you can search regionally for full time jobs, or freelance jobs. Plus it’s free for people to post to and search. I also find that not a lot of people know about this site, so you’ll have a better chance, because it’s not as big of a market responding to the positions.
Whatever way you choose to find jobs online, just make sure it is an actual job and that it doesn’t cost you anything. No job should be asking for money up front, if it does than you know there is something funny going on.
And always apply to the job in the manner that they state. So if they say no phone calls, they really mean no phone calls. In today’s market there are so many jobs out there, as long as you know the basic sites to check you should never have problems finding jobs online.
Portable Alpha -- What It Is, Where to Get It, and How to Use It
So much is being written about the emergence of “Quantitative Funds” and why this type of investment is becoming popular among both individual and professional investors. Eleanor Laise, in her Wall Street Journal article titled “Stock-Picker Jobs Going to Computers” wrote that “investors are attracted to quant funds for their non-emotional, disciplined method of investing. It is a well known fact amongst investment professionals that “investor psychology” is the most difficult variable for anyone to manage.
Our fear and greed most often get in the way of good judgment and a well thought out investment strategy.” One method of developing a quantitative portfolio includes adding alpha to the investment screening process. Although the idea of alpha is thought to be complicated and only for the technically inclined, it’s available for any investor and now easier than ever to utilize. With this strategy readily accessible, it makes sense to build a portfolio of long-term investments and then augment the return by actively trading a portion of the portfolio using technical analysis and portfolio management.
The real question is not if it can be done, but how can it done. Specifically, how does an investor, be it individual or professional, utilize the power of portable alpha? Before the “how to” can be understood, one must appreciate what alpha is and what investments are available that make utilizing portable alpha easy.
What is Portable Alpha?
According to Lawrence C. Strauss, in his Barron’s Online article titled “Does Low Volatility Mean Lower Returns” alpha “the money-management industry’s buzzword du jour refers to the measure of a stock’s performance beyond what the market provides. But how to calculate Alpha and more importantly how to compare various investment alternatives simultaneously using the same definition of Alpha has been a difficult problem for investors to solve.” Alpha, in its purest sense, is the measure of a fund or portfolio's risk-adjusted return relative to the market. A positive alpha value, such as 1.0, means that the fund or portfolio outperformed the market by 1.0%. The higher the alpha value, the more incremental gain is awarded for actively managing the investment by choosing securities that outperform the market, as compared to merely accepting the market return.
Portable alpha is “portable” because it can be applied across various asset classes. If a manager or individual investor increases a portfolio’s risk-adjusted return relative to the market (alpha) by investing in securities that have little or no correlation with the market, then that manager has created portable alpha. Portable alpha is a powerful investment tool because it can provide investors with greater diversification in their portfolios, lower risks and greater total returns as compared to conventional asset allocation.
There are other varieties of alpha, but in all cases a positive alpha value indicates that the fund or portfolio manager has "beaten the market" through fund or stock selection. Alpha Advisor Service, LLC uses a weighted alpha factor which places more emphasis on recent price movement as opposed to past activity. The purpose of doing so is to pinpoint stocks and funds whose positive momentum is building rather than those that have reached the peak of their uptrend.
Investments That Facilitate Using Portable Alpha Applying portable alpha to your portfolio can be accomplished by using trade-friendly investment funds provided by ProFunds, Rydex or Fidelity. These companies provide a wide variety of mutual fund selections, including index, sector, bond, precious metals, and international, which can be traded frequently, most without penalty, early trading fee or commission. Some of these companies offer funds designed for hedging strategies. Or for the slightly more aggressive, a few of these companies provide leveraged funds which are designed to outperform their benchmark index through the use of leverage. Exchange Traded Funds, which come in as many styles as mutual funds, also provide an easily-accessible tool for adding alpha to a portfolio.
Many analytical sources provide statistical profiles of investments, most of which are mathematically accurate. The predominant short coming in these tools is that they do not consistently analyze all alternatives. Bond investments will be measured using benchmarks unique to bonds while small cap stocks will be measured against the Russell 2000 etc. To select the best investments, using a level playing field by which to measure portfolio returns is the most attractive.
Sidenote: Checkout quant jobs at Canary Wharf Jobs.com.
How to Utilize Portable Alpha The first step towards utilizing portable alpha involves developing an asset allocation strategy specifically tailored to personal investment objective, risk tolerance and time horizon. Determine how much of the portfolio should be strategically allocated to specific asset classes such as stocks, bonds, sectors, international investments, precious metals and cash. Assign a percentage of investment dollars to each class, and then prepare to fill in the asset class with an appropriate selection of investments.
To select the best investments for each asset class, rank the investments by alpha score from highest to lowest. Then pick the top one or two options for investment within each asset class. Put in place a trailing stop loss on each investment at a reasonable level and watch its performance. If the price violates your watch level, sell the investment and replace it with the next most highly ranked alternative from its class. If no alternatives are available with a positive alpha, hold those dollars in cash until such time as a candidate presents itself. Don’t invest those dollars in another asset class; hold them until a candidate in the particular class becomes available.
This approach satisfies the buy and hold dogma that is unfortunately so engrained in the minds of today’s investors. It supplies adequate diversification while at the same time providing a level of return that’s in line with market expectations. Hopefully, by this point recent market activity has convinced most investors that the idea of buying a stock or fund and holding it indefinitely is no longer the optimal investment strategy. Human nature has a tendency to result in buying and selling at the worst possible moments, minimizing gains and maximizing losses. That’s why the development and implementation of a disciplined investment strategy is so advantageous to today’s investors.
Taking this approach one step further and evolving from a strategic allocation to a tactical or dynamic allocation is the easiest way to generate excess investment returns within a buy and hold strategy. Tactical allocation is predicated on the belief that not all asset classes perform in the same manner and that investment cycles do exist. With so many index funds and ETF’s that mimic the performance of market indices and style-box investments, analyzing the alpha scores of these investments is the quickest way to determine where to increase or decrease a portfolio’s allocations.
Today, with so many internet-based trading platforms available through brokerage firms and banks with minimum fees and almost no trading commissions, active personal investing makes more sense then ever. Affordable high-speed internet connectivity, computers, cell phones and internet brokerage accounts coupled with powerful mathematical statistics such as portable alpha are negating any excuses for experiencing unacceptable investment returns.
by Justin Lenarcic Alpha Advisor Service, LLC is designed specifically for those investors seeking to utilize portable alpha. Our twice-weekly newsletters analyze over 1700 securities including stock, ETF, and mutual fund investments ranking those with the highest alpha values. To further aid investors, we provide "Buy Recommendations" and "Sell-Limit Watches" in addition to five model portfolios. If you're interested in portable alpha and want to incorporate it into your investment portfolio, try our 30-Day FREE Trial and see for yourself how easy and rewarding it can be.
There has been a lot of change in the present media world. Nothing is same as before, people are not more into radio or newspapers as the new media has conquered the world. People are no longer getting into the papers for advertisements as they are more into the internet for everything. It is because of the faster pace that people are into the internet as everything happens with a click. The Web is widening its wings and in the same line of its growth, Internet recruiting is also on a steep rise.
The Internet is at its peak providing the relevant information that is needed by the common people in doing a job search. It is reaching out to many people around the globe at the same time. Jobs depend on the criteria that people are into which provides the latest and corresponding information. Job seekers skill also plays an important role.
While searching for employment, through the internet it is very important to ensure that the entire task would be a challenge as there would be more competitors on the row. With internet as the possible media, it is possible to apply for different jobs at the same time. The same bio data could be applied for these jobs and it can really do wonders for you.
There are many scams present as job search websites and they also ask for lot money for enrolling in. Always be aware of these before stepping into any of the sites. Collecting good information from nearby can really help you get into the best job searches in the internet. Getting the best jobs is also in the skills and the resume which is attached along with the job search.
Finding a desirable job can be almost as difficult as finding a mate. One spends countless hours searching for the right one. Then, after much internal conflict over whether or not they are suited for the position, they decide to send in their resume.
This is followed by the nerve racking ordeal of waiting to see if the company one has inquired about will call them back. Then when the hiring manager finally contacts them for an interview many people can't seem to decided on the perfect outfit.
Knowing exactly what is wanted from a career and where to find it makes a huge difference. The first thing anyone knee-deep in a job search should do is sit down and write a list of traits that their perfect job would provide. Afterwards, one should itemize the list in order of priority. Once the list is in order, the search for the perfect job can begin.
For job seekers everywhere the Internet provides the most listings for the least amount of time. Nationally known job search sites are a good place to begin. With the number of postings available, it can sometimes be difficult to weed through them all. Sometimes people get lucky and find the perfect position simply by typing in a keyword. Other times that leaves one with more listings then there is time to read through. Using the advanced search option is extremely helpful in these situations. Many sites are designed to make it easier to find a job based on level of education and salary. This cuts down on the time spent searching through minimum wage and entry level jobs.
Once a promising position is located, one should use their list to make sure that it provides several of the things they desired from a job. Cross checking this with ones talents and credentials can eliminate having their resume tossed into the trash can.
If one is unable to find a desirable position through a major job search website, they are not out of options. Going to the web page of their local paper and clicking on the link to area jobs will often produce listings that are not on such sites as Monster.com. Many local papers have designed their websites to pull postings from multiple sources including position usually only found in the paper and a variety of different internet sites.
One should also keep in mind any company in their area that they would enjoy working for. Often open positions can be found through a businesses website that may not be listed in other places.
Another option is searching for area temp agencies. Many of these list their available positions on their websites. One may still have to go in for an interview with the agency, but by searching their homepage prior to contacting them one can get an idea of the positions they specialize in and what is available at the time. This makes it easier to avoid to being told that there is nothing open in the industry one specializes in.
When looking for a job online is important to remember that a variety of sites exist to assist individuals in search. Using more than one web page inc
