Atlanta for Breakfast. Sarasota for Lunch.

I must be nuts. Absolutely nuts. Tomorrow I fly from Minneapolis to Atlanta, sit there for an hour, get on a plane to Sarasota, sit there for an hour, get on a plane to Atlanta, sit there for an hour, then fly back to Minneapolis. Why? Because I can’t get enough of the, ahem, love handed out by so many airline employees. Nah. Because I’m two round trips short of qualifying for Elite status again for 2009 and all the great perks that come along with that such as free upgrades to first class on many flights and virtually always at least exit row when first class is fully booked.
Computer? Check. iPod? Check. Book? Check. Ready, set, fly.

Should You Accept a Low-Paying Job Offer or Stick with Unemployment Benefits?

So you’ve recently been let go from your company and are receiving unemployment benefits when an amazing thing happens – you get a job offer. But it’s not the offer you were hoping for. While it will definitely pay the bills, it will result in you taking less than 50-percent of what you were making.
What do you do? Is it best to take the low-paying job or continue taking the unemployment benefits? This is definitely not a decision that comes with a textbook answer. However, you may benefit from some basic tips to help guide your decision.
Get a Good Grasp of Your Field
While holding out is not a bad idea for a while, it’s not the best idea to do so blindly. Meaning, if you’re applying for jobs and simply collecting unemployment benefits without knowing what’s going on with your field, you may be setting yourself up for a financial and career disaster.
Think about it; there is a reason that your job let its employees go. Business probably was not good. This means, depending on your field, suffering business may be widespread. Therefore, it is important that you spend time studying what’s going on in your field so that you don’t waste unnecessary time pursuing dead-end opportunities. Check to see if the companies you’re applying with are planning to layoff workers anytime soon. You could even take this paid time off to educate yourself in new fields. It may have been a blessing in disguise that propels you toward a passion you’ve always wanted to nurture.
You Were Given Unemployment Benefits for a Reason
One thing that you should keep in mind when deciding whether to take the lower-paying position is that you were given unemployment benefits for a reason. Not only are they meant to help keep you afloat as you look for new employment, but they were established to make sure that those who are recently unemployed don’t feel that they have to accept anything that’s offered to them.
While you are required to actively seek employment while receiving benefits, there is no rule that says you have to take anything you’re offered. So if you feel that you can go a while longer on the benefits you’re receiving then continuing your search for a position that is roughly comparable to the job you previously held in both salary and benefits isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Choose Wisely – And According to Your Family’s Needs
As mentioned previously, choosing the right path in this type of situation is not easy. Depending on your family’s financial needs in the short and long term, your decision can vary greatly. So take time to sit down with your family and weigh your options collectively, to ensure everyone is considered in this challenging decision.
The decision to accept a lower-paying position can be devastating when you consider the years of hard work you may have put into another job. It can be a major blow to the ego and wallet. So make sure that your decision to accept or deny is an informed one to ensure you and your family can benefit for years to come.
Heather Eagar is a former professional resume writer and is passionate about providing working professionals with current, reliable and effective job search tools and information. If you’re in need of a resume service, compare the top ones in the industry at http://www.resumelines.com

Improving Productivity of the Existing Workforce High Priority

In today’s economic environment, it should come as no surprise that profits, costs and customers are at the forefront of corporate concerns for the new year, according to a recent study by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp). On the heels of those challenges, the ability to manage the change involved and to improve the productivity of the existing workforce are two additional items that are top of mind.
And these same companies aren’t at all optimistic that the upcoming year will provide relief. Just over 12% said the U.S. economy is likely to improve, and only 9% hold out hope for an improvement in the economy on a global scale in 2009. Over a third (35.5%) said it is “a virtual certainty” or “highly likely” that the U.S. unemployment rate will hit 10%. Only 1.6% of responding companies said that there is no chance this will happen.

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Looking Out for #1

I know I have posted on this topic before but given our current economic situation and the tragic stories I have heard over the past couple of days I think it bears repeating. When times are tough its more important than ever to take care of your mental and physical well being.
It seems like many people worry about everything except their mental and physical health when they are stressed out about losing a job, not having enough money, or possibly losing a home. On the face of it that makes sense because those are such crucial issues. But if you aren’t physically and mentally strong enough to handle devastating events then the whole situation will spiral out of control and you will be even less equipped to make sound decisions. I have also found that people who are depressed do not interview as well as those who seem happy and well adjusted. If you don’t take care of your mental health you could wind up being your own worst enemy in job interviews.

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Entry Level Jobs With Six88 Solutions

When I interned at Orvis, I got to take a trip to their distribution center in Roanoke, VA. I learned a lot about the company on that trip, and I got to experience one interesting situation. At the time Orvis had a new product – a kangaroo skin hat – that happened to be illegal in California. Unfortunately they didn’t realize that kangaroo products were illegal in California until after one of the hats had already shipped. Apparently every violation of this law comes with a very steep fine. It was understandable that there was a big fuss about this, and somehow the company was able to track down the package before it crossed the California border. Now imagine that your company faces this problem every day. That’s what it’s like for wine retailers – every state has different restrictions, regulations, taxes, and other hoops that you need to jump through to ship wine. That’s where Boulder, CO based Six88 Solutions comes in. They produce software called ShipCompliant that makes it much easier for wine companies to stay in compliance with the law. Continue reading about Six88 Solutions…
Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Entry Level Jobs for Movie Lovers With Kaos Studios

If you’re sitting around playing video games instead of being a diligent job seeker, then you’re the reason that companies like Kaos Studios are on “a hiring binge.” I guess that’s a good thing because you’re creating jobs for other people. It won’t do much for you, but you can call it an act of selflessness. I continue to be amazed by how well video game companies are doing in such a rough economy. The connection between unemployment and gaming seems to be pretty clear (although the question of which comes first is yet to be answered). I’d rather you enroll in our job search training course, than buy a couple of new games, but I’d imagine that the folks at Kaos Studios would disagree. They’re a NYC based video game and their most recent title is Frontlines: Fuel of War – yes, it’s a shoot ‘em up. Continue reading about Kaos Studios…
Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Always an Interview, Never a Job Offer

Originally posted on Jobs In Stockholm
Have you been on more interviews than you can count lately? While it is very encouraging to get called and invited to interview for a job that interests you, it can become very frustrating when the interviews never evolve into job offers. While many people tend to blame their resumes when they don’t get the jobs they want, their resumes aren’t always the problem. If you are getting invited to interview on the basis of your resume, the document isn’t likely to be the culprit. After all, you are getting called in for the interviews, so the resume itself must look pretty good.
It is important to understand that you aren’t likely to get every single job for which you interview. Some jobs are meant for you and some jobs are not. However, when you habitually get overlooked when it comes to job offers, or even second interviews, it is a good time to step back and try to figure out where you have room to improve. You might just be having a string of bad luck, but there might be something going on that you can fix pretty easily.
In such situations, the problem typically is either a function of (a) your interviewing skills or (b) inconsistency between what your resume says and what you are saying in the interview.

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Three More Habits of Highly Effective Job Seekers

Originally posted on Sweet Careers
Last time, I wrote about the three habits of highly successful job seekers that I have observed after counseling thousands of people since 1996.
To recap, they are:
1) Begin with clarity;
2) Take immediate, intelligent, massive action; and
3) Leave your comfort zone Today, I’d like to share three more habits that can put you on the fast track to your next job.
Note: These are recession-proof. They work in good times and in bad. Ready?

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Optimize Your Career With an Entry Level Job at SEOmoz

While I find most of the entry level jobs and companies that I feature here to be interesting, occasionally I come across one that almost makes me want to quit what I’m doing and go work for someone else. There are just some companies and jobs that stand out from the rest. SEOmoz is one of them. They’re a Seattle based search engine optimization company, but they’re more than that. Instead of just taking on consulting work like most SEO companies, they’ve made their name by becoming the place to go for search engine optimization education and tools. I’ve been an on and off member of SEOmoz’s Pro service, and I love it. I’ve learned most of my SEO knowledge from SEOmoz, and SEO has been one of the driving forces behind the growth of One Day, One Job and One Day, One Internship. I’ve even adopted SEOmoz’s business model of offering premium educational content (in the form of a job search training course). Continue reading about SEOmoz…
Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Choose the Road Less Traveled With an Offbeat Guides Internship

Being a travel writer is a dream job for a lot of people, but it’s not an easy field to be successful in. That’s because everyone wants to (and thinks that they can) be a travel writer. Sure, I’ll go to Europe for 3 weeks, write an article, and pay for my trip. Yeah right! You can blog about your travels, but once again making it pay is a completely different story. Today’s internships aren’t paid, but they will give you some much needed experience in travel writing that you’ll need if you eventually want to make a career out of it. Offbeat Guides is a San Francisco based startup that has taken a new approach to travel guides. Their product offers a level of customization that isn’t present in other guides. You give them some basic information about yourself and your travel plans, and they’ll create a guide that is specific to your needs. It looks awesome. Continue reading about Offbeat Guides…
Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job