A Look at Why Some Resumes Work and Others Are Destined for the Round File
By MICHELLE GOODMAN

In school we're taught how to dissect amphibians, analyze current events and compose sonnets. We learn how to locate Kazakhstan on a map, catch a football and avoid catching STDs. We even learn how to calculate how many hours it takes two cars leaving the same destination but traveling in opposite directions to be 500 miles apart if Car A travels 60 miles per hour and car B travels 70 miles per hour.

But many of us leave academia without knowing how to write a winning resume. And according to career experts, it shows.

Sure, we know the basics: run spell check, avoid text-message-speak, leave off the details of our annual pilgrimage to Burning Man. But judging from the letters I receive each week from readers -- and the gripes I regularly hear from hiring managers -- many of us could use a little help looking good on paper.

For suggestions, I consulted a handful of savvy resume writers, career coaches and recruiters. Here's what they had to say.

Q. What's the biggest resume mistake that job hunters make?

Relying too heavily on the same generic buzzwords every other candidate is using is one of the quickest routes to the round file, said Kristen Fife, a Seattle-based recruiter who works in the high-tech sector.

"Instead of 'excellent verbal and written communication skills' I would prefer 'trilingual (English, German, Dutch) marketing manager with experience creating localized international Web-based ad campaign resulting in a $3 million increase in revenue over six months across the entire business unit," Fife explained via e-mail.

In addition, "Don't write '10, 25 or 30 years of experience' on your resume," said Russ Riendeau, senior partner at The East Wing Search Group, an executive recruiting firm based in Barrington, Ill. "Years of experience doesn't prove you're good. Give impact, results, data."

In other words, tell them how many people you managed, how much money the department earned or saved thanks to you and the percentage you were able to increase customer retention or staff productivity.

"Not providing a context for the information," is another variation of this no-no, said Miriam Salpeter of Keppie Careers, a resume and job hunting consultancy in Atlanta.

"Increased sales by 12 percent in a depressed market when most sales were down year over year" tells a far more compelling story than "increased sales by 12 percent year over year," Salpeter said.

Tailoring Your Resume: Does It Matter?

Q. A lot of coaches recommend candidates tailor their resume to each job they apply for. How important is this?

According to our experts, very.

"Job seekers tend to simply list their jobs and job descriptions, without connecting them to the job they are applying for," said Steven Greenberg, founder of Jobs4.0, a job site for candidates age 40 and up, and a frequent speaker to job seekers and HR groups.

"You can't expect the hiring manager to connect the dots," Greenberg explained. "You have to do it for them. Try applying for fewer jobs, and customize your resume each time."

"The top quarter of the resume needs to tell the employer why you are qualified for that job," Rebecca Warriner of Woodland Recruiting in Mercer Island, Wa., said via e-mail. "Candidates can save time by not working on a highly customized cover letter."

This isn't as daunting as it sounds. Sometimes customizing your resume is as simple as moving the most relevant selling point to the front of each job description, said Salpeter, the career coach from Atlanta.

Q. Are objectives obsolete? Or is it still valuable to mention the type of job you seek at the top your resume?

"Typically, objectives are a waste of space on a resume," said Salpeter. "The objective is to get the job, so it's a bit redundant to include that at the top of the resume. Most objectives I see tend to be pretty self-serving: 'Seeking an opportunity that will allow me to grow professionally, learn on the job and use my writing and editing skills.' The employer is interested in what you can do for him or her. Listing your needs doesn't help you stand out."

Instead, Salpeter said, try giving a quick summary or a short bulleted list of the relevant skills you will bring to the job.

"This is the section that needs to be customized for every resume you submit," said Warriner. "I tell my clients to think of this as their 'mini cover letter.' The employer should be able to read it in 5 to 10 seconds and know exactly why you are qualified for the job."

Keywords: 'Vocabulary of the Industry'

Q. What's the deal with keywords? Are they necessary?

If you want to get the interview, yes, they are.

Whether a human or a software program initially screens your resume, keywords -- those almighty words and catchphrases that map to the job description -- are one of the primary things your resume will be scanned for, Warriner explained.

That said, "include keywords" is just a technical way of saying "make sure you speak the employer's language."

"Usually that's the language that's on their Web site and in their ad," explained Salpeter.

Unfortunately, said Riendeau, "Most candidates don't do research to find the vocabulary of the industry they're applying into, so the reader shreds the resume before page 2."

This isn't rocket science. It's talking about "builds" and "ship dates" if you're applying for a job in the software industry or "production" and "page proofs" if you're dealing in print publishing.

And while experts advise sprinkling keywords throughout your resume, don't overuse them. Nor do you want to use any terminology you don't understand.

"You have to be able to substantiate the keywords you use," said Sherri Edwards of Resource Maximizer, a career coaching firm based in Seattle.

The last thing you want is show up for an interview and not be able to detail your supposed experience as "a project manager" who's well-versed in "product positioning," "cost reduction" and "new media."

Q. How about education dates? If you're over 40 or 50, should you ditch them or keep them?

There's no denying that age discrimination is alive and well in the workforce. But our experts agree that trying to obscure your age by leaving off your education dates won't fool anyone. "Isn't the HR manager going to meet you at some point anyway?" said Greenberg. "Your goal is to get a job, not to waste time trying to fooling people into giving you interviews."

"All of the recruiters I've asked about this topic have confirmed my instinct that deleting dates is a bad idea," said Salpeter. "If you delete dates, some people will assume you did not earn a degree. Others will assume you are 105. Neither will help you get the job."

This work is the opinion of the columnist and in no way reflects the opinion of ABC News.

Michelle Goodman is a freelance journalist, author and former cubicle dweller. Her books — "My So-Called Freelance Life: How to Survive and Thrive as a Creative Professional for Hire" and "The Anti 9-to-5 Guide: Practical Career Advice for Women Who Think Outside the Cube" -- offer an irreverent take on the traditional career guide. More tips on career change, flex work and the freelance life can be found on her blog, Anti9to5Guide.com.

Joe Lindenmayer: The Franchise Insider

Learn to be proactive now, and your business will thrive in any economy.

A Number of Countries Are Suddenly More Affordable to American Travelers

The latest resident of the recession-era bargain bin: a private island in Fiji. Paul De Domenico, a former food industry executive who'd been asking $35 million for his 800-acre slice of paradise, is lowering his price by nearly 20%.

Krakow Royal Wawel in Poland. Poland is one of more than a dozen countries that are now considerably more affordable to American travelers, according to Forbes magazine.

(Bruno De Hogues/Getty Images)

"The good old days are over," says De Domenico, 74. "I'm at the age now where I'm trying to liquidate some assets."

Fortunately for the rest of us, a trip to Fiji can be had without making such a pricey commitment, thanks to a sagging local currency. Though roundtrip airfare will set you back about $1,600, the greenback gained 40% on the Fiji dollar over the past year--which means that once you get there, everything is on sale at a deep discount.

Fiji is just one of many places that's suddenly more affordable to American travelers.

Top on our list is Hungary, buoyed both by airfares in the $590 range and a currency that the dollar has gained 30% on over the past year. Sweden, our second-ranked country, offers nearly identical currency perks. The dollar has gained a full 50% on Poland's zloty, meaning that $100 can now get you a $150 hotel room in Warsaw.

On top of the dollar's increased value, Americans will find tremendous deals on rooms as hotels around the world try to entice reluctant visitors.

"Middle-range hotels have definitely been lowering rates," says Michelle Finkelstein, vice president of sales at Our Personal Guest, a San Francisco-based travel agency. "A lot of high-end hotels haven't lowered their rates because it's hard to get them back up. So they've been throwing in free nights and other perks."

Behind the Numbers

To figure out which countries are cheapest to visit in this recession, we looked at all the non-North American currencies against which the U.S. dollar has gained 15% or more over the past year. We then ranked these 28 countries by the dollar's value in local currency, and by airfare. We based the latter on prices from Kayak.com for a roundtrip coach flight from a New York-area airport to each country's capital, departing on Friday, June 12 and returning Sunday, June 21. Ties in the overall rankings were broken by lowest airfare.

Last year, Forbes predicted that the dollar, which had been pummeled by steady rate cuts by the Fed, was poised for recovery--and that high-flying foreign currencies were in for a rude awakening. We suggested that countries like Brazil and Poland would see their currencies drop as the dollar recovered. Indeed, the greenback is up 26% on Brazil's real and 50% on Poland's zloty.

And now, instead of paying exorbitant exchange rates abroad, American travelers are reaping the benefits of a strong dollar.

Iceland on Sale

Of all industrialized nations, Iceland has been perhaps the hardest-hit by the global recession. Starting in 2003, Iceland's financial industry metastasized, growing from a few billion dollars in assets to nearly 50 times that amount by 2008.

Unfortunately for Icelanders, that included a plethora of highly leveraged deals made at the top of the market, much of it in foreign real estate. Unlike the U.S., the island nation of 300,000 had no strong federal safety net to save it when everything came crashing down. The country's stock market is off 95% over the past 12 months.

That's bad news for Iceland, but great news for American travelers, whose dollars are worth 60% more in Iceland than they were a year ago.

"The economic collapse has brought hardship on many people," says Urdur Gunnarsdóttir, spokeswoman for Iceland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs. "But it has made life much easier for tourists, that's for sure."

Though peak nonstop fares from New York to Reykjavik exceed $1,000, midweek fares are often available for less than $600. Once in Iceland's capital, a beer in a swanky downtown bar is about $5; a posh hotel room can be had for $80 or so. It's not exactly cheap, but the dollar goes twice as far in Reykjavik as it does in Europe's cosmopolitan capitals like London and Moscow.

Keep taking discount vacations, and you might just be able to save up enough for an extreme vacation in Sierra Leone, which doesn't make our list but will certainly be affordable--though far from luxurious--upon arrival.

"It's a really good buy," says De Domenico of his 800-acre, $35 million island. "People pay that much for a condo in Manhattan."

After a Lay-Off or Mortgage-Rate Hike, Many Americans Find Themselves in Debt

By DAVID K. RANDALL
Forbes.com
May 19, 2009


It's a situation all too familiar to millions of Americans these days. After years of hard work, a sudden job loss, pay cut, furlough or simple over-reliance on debt has left too little cash on hand to pay the monthly bills. More than 13 million people are currently in hock to collections agencies or are seriously considering bankruptcy, according to a recent report by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.

If you find yourself falling behind on your bills, there are several steps you can take to help reduce the amount of money you owe and help preserve the assets you still have. Here's a rundown.

1. Know where you stand. It's important to face up to the problem, rather than tucking threatening letters into a desk drawer. Begin by assessing your complete financial situation. That means tallying up your total income after all taxes and other deductions. Then compare it to your monthly obligations, including housing and car payments, credit card bills and other debts. Add discretionary items, like how much you spend on entertainment and restaurants.

If your income doesn't match, or exceed, how much you're spending, it's time to make some tough choices. That's what one New Jersey couple realized it had to do.

"One party was unemployed and the other was working, but they were living on credit cards that were close to being maxed out," says Michael Kay, a financial planner in Livingston, N.J. "When all was said and done, they had to sell their home, even though it wasn't the best time to do so, to get out of debt."

2. Negotiate with creditors. If the math indicates you're going to have a hard time covering your debts, talk to your creditors before resorting to more desperate measures. If the loan is still held by your bank or original lender, it may be willing to negotiate a temporary solution.

"Your bank or a credit card company has a strong incentive to try to work things out," says Ted Beck, the head of the National Endowment for Financial Education, a nonprofit organization that focuses on personal finance.

3.Know who you're talking with. Don't assume an aggressive debt collector who calls your home has the upper hand, either. First, determine whether the caller represents your lender itself or an outside collections agency. Banks may see someone who missed a payment or two as potentially a good customer down the road and try not to alienate him or her, Beck says. "The last thing that they want to do is own your house."

Collections agencies typically work by buying the rights to your loan at a discount from the original creditor. Then they begin calling debtors to try to recoup as much of the face value of the loan as they can.

4. Only do deals you can live with. It's key to only agree to new terms that you can live with. If a bank offers to lower your payment from say, $500 to $200 a month, accept only if you're sure you can keep up. Failure to meet the reduced rates could undercut your argument that with the bank.

If the bank refuses to lower your payments, ask it to at least drop late payment penalties or the interest rate it's charging you.

5. Make sure your information is accurate. At the same time, confirm with the lender or collection agency that all the information they have about your payment history is correct and that you agree with their tally of how much you owe. If you discover a payment you mailed was never credited to your account, a bank may be willing to cut you a break. Ask for a full explanation of your loan, and where you stand in terms of paying it back, in writing.

If you're dealing with a collection agency, keep a written record of all times that it calls, who you speak with and what is said. Don't give out any information that is unrelated to the debt, Beck warns.

6. Know your rights. Debt collection agencies are also bound by a strict set of federal rules. They are not allowed to threaten or harass you, call outside of designated hours (which vary by state) or publish a list of people who haven't paid their debts. The Federal Trade Commission, a government agency, publishes a list of consumer's rights for dealing with debt collectors (found here.)

7. Avoid desperate measures. Finally, don't let past debts push you into making bad financial decisions. Cash advances from credit cards, payday loans and title loans against your car are all extremely expensive.

"These loans have astronomical interest rates and a structure that makes them very hard to pay back," Beck says.

Beware of any company that promises it can consolidate your debt for an upfront fee because it may be a scam. Instead, turn to an organization like the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, which offers free advice from trained credit counselors.

abcnews

A senior financial advisor at Ameriprise says you should fund retirement accounts first
By Emily Brandon
Posted May 18, 2009

Choosing how much of your savings to spend on a child's education while also planning your own financial future is a challenge every parent faces. Evelyn Dinkins, a senior financial advisor for Ameriprise Financial, has a daughter in college, but is also saving for her own retirement. Dinkins recently spoke with U.S. News about why you should fund retirement accounts before paying the bursar. Excerpts:

How should you prioritize saving for your children's college education and funding your own retirement?
The prioritization is a very personal thing. Typically retirement comes first and education is a close second. There is only one way to save for retirement and that's for you to do it. There aren't many pensions left out there. Never leave 401(k) matching money on the table. That's free money. Fully save for retirement and if there is money left over, then save for education. There are a lot of ways to pay for education. There are loans. There are scholarships. There are grants. There are also so many ways students can keep costs down. Students can go in state and live at home. Too often we see people who haven't saved for education and use their retirement accounts. If you do that you may end up having to delay your retirement.

Are many parents able to completely fund their children's education while still keeping retirement plans on track?
A lot of times they can't fund the whole college experience and pay for retirement. They can only fund some amount of the college education. A lot of times their own experience has helped them decide how much college they want to fund. Sometimes parents come in with a very definite idea like, "I had to pay for college or my parents paid for me." We always start planning with the end in mind. Tell me what retirement is going to look like. Tell me what you want your child's college experience to be like.

Should you level with your child about the family's finances?
Have a discussion with the student when they are about 16 or 17. They should start looking at various schools and get a feel for all these costs. You don't want the student to have unrealistic expectations. At the age of 16 or 17 they are capable of understanding what it's going to cost and where it's going to come from and what the family's finances are. Even if you could afford to pay for everything, it's important for the student to understand how much college costs. My daughter looked at one particular school and I just had to say that can't be on your list unless you want to come out with a massive student loan. Unless the kid can get a scholarship, they often don't go to the expensive schools. Expensive schools do have large endowments and the average student doesn't even pay the full amount because they have so much money to give. You need to check with the school. Typically you can find out on their website what the average student is actually paying.

How does saving for college and retirement affect how much financial aid a student is eligible for?
Money that is set aside in retirement accounts is not considered money that is even available to go to a college education. 100 percent of that money is going towards your retirement. Don't put all of your savings into a 529 plan. The 529 plan is all for college and it can skew your financial aid. If you're counting on financial aid it may not be the best route.

How much do you need to save to finance four years of college and retirement?
You need to be saving probably 20 percent of your income for retirement if you are going to be saving well for retirement. Most people are saving 5 or 6 percent for retirement. College always costs more than you think it's going to cost. If it says the university costs $10,000 a year, assume it costs more than that because you are going to be spending more money. You're going to need to have auto insurance, additional food, and what if they don't want to live in the dorm? It's going to end up costing more. You can find out what it costs and then I think you should add another 10 to 20 percent over what you think it is going to cost.

source: US News

Liz Pulliam Weston, Money Talk
May 17, 2009
Dear Liz: I currently have a consolidated student loan with the federal Direct Loan program at an 8.25% fixed rate. I initially borrowed $50,000 18 years ago, but the balance due has ballooned to almost $155,000 over the years.

I have annually applied for and been granted a forbearance from Direct Loans so my account is currently in good standing. I've recently had some good fortune and will be coming into a substantial amount of money that would allow me to pay off the entire balance due in one payment.

Given the circumstances, is it possible for me to approach Direct Loans with the possibility of paying off the entire balance due at a reduced rate since I'm willing to pay it all up front? For instance, I could offer them $100,000 if they'll forgive the remaining balance of $55,000.

Answer: In most cases, the U.S. Department of Education won't negotiate with borrowers over the amount they owe on federal student loans, said student loan expert Mark Kantrowitz of FinAid.org.

That's because the department has extraordinary powers to force you to pay. The debt can't be discharged in bankruptcy and the department can intercept tax refunds, garnish your wages and take a portion of many government benefits, including Social Security checks, if you default.

There also is no statute of limitations on student loan debt, which means there's no time limit on how long the government can take to sue borrowers who default. The feds can wait for years until borrowers' circumstances improve and then go after them.

Given its arsenal, the government can take a tough stance, Kantrowitz said. But he has heard that the department sometimes will agree to forgive a portion of accrued interest and fees if the remaining balance will be paid off in full.

What you need to find out is how much the Direct Loan program paid for your loan, Kantrowitz said, since the government will never accept less than what it cost to acquire a loan.

You'll need to use the National Student Loan Data system ( www.finaid.org/loans /lostlender.phtml) or your own records to determine what your balance was when you consolidated your loans into the Direct Loan program. That is the amount the department paid to acquire the loans from your original lender.

Kantrowitz recommends offering to split the difference between that figure and your current balance. Whatever the department counteroffers, accept it.

"That's a reasonable approach that is fair to both the borrower and the taxpayers," Kantrowitz said, "providing the taxpayers with some compensation for the cost of the funds over the years."

Don't spend the rest of your windfall, however. If the government does forgive a portion of the debt, the amount forgiven is considered taxable income to you.

Responding to an interest rate hike

Dear Liz: My credit card interest rate recently went from 11% to 24%. I have excellent credit and a history of paying off any balance. I have never missed a payment or paid late. When I asked why the rate was hiked, I was given a story about the issuer's rising costs. Should I switch my balance to a card from my local bank? The balance is small and the interest rate is one-third of what my current credit card company is demanding. I can pay the balance off in four months.

Answer: The credit card issuers that are being the most aggressive about raising rates and cutting limits are hoping you'll passively accept the changes. But when you have good credit, you have choices. You can take your business elsewhere.

If you can pay the balance off quickly, though, you might want to do the math on whether a switch makes sense. If you have to pay a 3% to 4% fee for the transfer, which you typically do, that cost may offset any interest rate savings. Plus, applying for a new card can ding your credit.

You might want to make the change anyway, of course, just to make the point to your issuer that you won't stand for arbitrary rate increases.

Liz Pulliam Weston is the author of the book "Your Credit Score: Your Money and What's at Stake." Questions for possible inclusion in her column may be sent to 3940 Laurel Canyon Blvd., No. 238, Studio City, CA 91604, or via the "Contact Liz" form at www.asklizweston.com. Distributed by No More Red Inc.

source: LA Times

7 Ways to Be Happier at Work

by Jeff Stibel


A recent report listed the happiest nations in the world. Guess what? The US didn't even make it into the top ten. So much for the American dream.

Why are we so unhappy? Let's start by looking at the origin of the word. Happy is derived from the Icelandic word happ, meaning luck or chance. Is happiness then, by its very definition, elusive due its randomness? Nassim Taleb certainly thinks so, as he expressed in his bestselling book Fooled by Randomness. But this is clearly not the case for the top 10 happiest countries.

In his book, The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living, the Dalai Lama — arguably a very wise and happy man — suggests that true happiness can be attained only by training the mind. So much for Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert's notion of Stumbling on Happiness (despite the title, he too argues that we can train our minds to be happier). With that in mind, here are a number of suggestions that I hope can turn our collective frowns upside-down:

1. Smile. Turns out, smiling is directly linked to happiness. It may have started as a correlation but, over time, the brain linked the two. Don't believe me? Try this: smile (a nice big smile) and attempt to think of something negative. Either you will stop smiling or you won't be able to hold the negative thought.

2. Stop worrying. Worrying happens to be one of humanity's best traits. It is the underlying emotion behind foresight, planning, and forecasting. We worry because some future event is uncertain and that feeling is a cue for us to start thinking about how to address it. The problem is, we worry too much about things that are out of our control (like the economy, stupid). The US has one of the highest rates for mental disease and yes, worry is among the leading indicators. While it's true that there are plenty of things to worry about these days, take a deep breath, America, and stop sweating the small stuff.

3. Take a break. The US is one of the most overworked industrialized nations. But this is counterproductive for a nation of "knowledge workers." Overworking people to exhaustion is a horrible way to extract knowledge from people. Taking a break provides an opportunity to reflect and often it is during such times when the best ideas, our deepest insights, emerge. I insist on taking lunches out of the office; I insist that my colleagues do the same. Call it a siesta, naptime, or a mini-vacation. It works for many of the happier nations too.

4. Do things differently. Part of the problem at work for many people is boredom. We are stuck in a rut where we come in and do the same thing over and over and over again. Get your enthusiasm back by doing things differently. Make every effort to learn, to grow, and to challenge yourself. Take on more responsibility or attempt something you never thought you were capable of doing. Even if your responsibilities don't allow for much flexibility, try a different approach to your existing responsibilities.

5. Stop managing and start leading. If you're in management, you need to find ways to motivate and stimulate your employees. How? Stretch their minds. Empower your team by giving them more responsibility, more decision-making power, more autonomy. Equally important: be inclusive. Explain what is happening in the company as a whole and give your employees a broader perspective on how their jobs influence the overall business.

6. Delegate. One of the most destructive and counterproductive byproducts of the downsizing era is fear — many managers are scared to let go of control for fear that doing so will make them obsolete. I have news for you: if you feel that way, you already are obsolete. Being controlling is bad for business, not to mention bad for your physical and mental health. The best leaders always look for people better, smarter, and more capable than themselves.

7. Have fun. Here is some tough advice: If you don't like what you are doing, stop doing it. Life is too short to not have fun. I love what I do and when I stop loving it, I do something else. Even in this economy, you will be in high demand if you are good at what you do — and can do it with a smile on your face.

What are your tips for being happier at work?

Jeffrey M. Stibel is an entrepreneur and brain scientist. He studied business and brain science at MIT Sloan and Brown University, where he was a brain and behavior fellow. Stibel has authored numerous academic and business articles on a variety of subjects and is the named inventor on the US patent for search engine interfaces. He is currently President of Web.com (NASDAQ: WWWW) and serves on academic Boards for Tufts and Brown University, as well as the Board of Directors for a number of public and private companies.

source: Harvard Business

May 14th 2009
From the Economist Intelligence Unit ViewsWire
President Nicolas Sarkozy unveils ay pla"to tacklen youth unemploymen in Francet

Responding to a sharp rise in unemployment in recent months, particularly among young adults, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has unveiled an “emergency plan” to help 700,000 young people find employment during the period up to mid-2010. The partly state-subsidised measures should provide a boost to work and training opportunities in the near term, but the underlying weaknesses of the labour market, not least the high rate of structural unemployment among young French adults, will remain.

The number of people out of work is rising rapidly in France. Registered unemployment rose by 63,000 people in March, to 2,448,000. The number of unemployed was 22.1% higher than in March 2008. Male unemployment rose by 31.5% over the year, to 1,281,000, while female unemployment increased by 13.3% to 1,168,000. Younger workers are bearing the brunt of the deterioration in the labour market. At the end of March there were 451,600 persons aged under 25 registered out of work, an increase of 35.8% year on year. According to Martin Hirsch, the government's high commissioner for the young, the number is likely to exceed 650,000 by the end of 2009.

In view of the sharp rise in unemployment in recent months, recent fears expressed by trade unionists and others over the risk of unrest on the country's streets could yet prove not to be wholly ill-founded. Such concerns explain the French president's recourse (yet again) to a hands-on approach to economic policy. Mr Sarkozy recently presented what he termed an "emergency plan" to help 700,000 young people to find employment during the period up to mid-2010. The plan provides for the creation on a large scale of new jobs under various types of employment contract, all of them partially subsidised by the state. The eventual cost of these measures is uncertain, but is expected to exceed €1bn.
You're hired?

One aim of the plan is a target to create 320,000 apprenticeships, compared with 285,000 in 2008. To this end, any company that recruits a young apprentice before June 30th 2010 will be exempt from paying social security charges for that person for a period of one year. Furthermore, small enterprises (with fewer than 50 employees) will receive an additional, direct subsidy of €1,800. A national advertising campaign will be launched to promote the apprenticeship scheme.

A second aim is to promote combined work and training opportunities. For example, the government hopes to finance 170,000 new contrats de professionnalisation (known as contrats pro) by mid-2010, up from 145,000 in 2008. Under this type of contract, work experience is alternated with formal training. As an incentive for companies to offer these contracts, the plan proposes a direct one-off subsidy, worth €1,000 for each person aged less than 26 who signs up. If the person has not achieved an educational qualification equivalent to the baccalauréat school certificate (academic or vocational), the subsidy is doubled to €2,000. These subsidies appear to supplement the one-off payment of €1,000 that, according to draft legislation currently before parliament, is to be provided directly to employees who sign a contrat pro with a small company.
Temp time

The president's employment plan also contains numerous measures to improve the prospects of young workers with temporary work contracts. For example, those on a two-month placement will benefit from a minimum wage of €400 per month, placing them on the same footing as placements for three months or longer. To encourage the transformation of placements into permanent employment contracts (contrats à durée indéterminée, or CDIs), enterprises making this change before the end of September will receive a payment from the state of €3,000 per head. It is hoped that this incentive will lead to the creation of 50,000 CDIs.

In addition, during the second half of 2009 the government will finance an additional 50,000 contrats initiative emploi (CIE)—another type of subsidised contract that was introduced in 2005 as a means of helping those experiencing chronic difficulty in finding work in the private sector.

Finally, the emergency plan aims to encourage recruitment by local government through financing 50,000 extra contrats d'accompagnement dans l'emploi (CAE). These contracts provide a state subsidy for the beneficiary's remuneration and training, and like the CIE are targeted at those experiencing chronic difficulty in finding work. One new element to these CAEs is that they will be geared to the acquisition of transferable skills that can be put to good use in the private sector (for instance, computing skills, childcare, property management). The national employment agency will be entrusted with the task of proposing future private-sector jobs to CAE beneficiaries.
Same old story?

High structural youth unemployment in France has been a problem for the past quarter of a century—the difficulties experienced by young French adults in progressing beyond a series of short-term placements or temporary work to obtain permanent jobs have been well charted. This problem is now being aggravated by the most severe economic downturn since the end of the second world war.

Although during his presidential election campaign Mr Sarkozy called for the state to reduce the number of subsidised employment contracts, there is little doubt that elements of the emergency package are warranted given the scale of the labour market crisis affecting many young adults in search of work. The problem facing the government over the medium term is how to tackle the politically difficult decision of reversing yet another expansion in state-subsidised employment, particularly if economic activity remains subdued over a protracted period.

By Leslie McFadden • Bankrate.com

Leslie McFaddenq_v2.gifDear Credit Card Adviser,
I'm in the initial phases of rebuilding my credit after a history of late payments and charge-offs (horrible, irresponsible and broke college days). I'm beginning to contact creditors to make arrangements for repayment/settlements, and will request the removal of delinquent credit report items (after I've proven myself with timely payments).

I also applied for and received a secured Bank of America credit card ($500 deposit/limit). Regarding the BofA credit card, when would you suggest is the best time to pay off the balances I incur? My only reason to use this card is for the purposes of rebuilding/improving my credit. Are there any benefits to making payments immediately after use? Or, should I wait until the statement is received by mail? How can I play this game strategically by saving money on interest fees and improving my credit? Please help! Thanks!
-- Nikki


Paying on time and in full is the only way to avoid paying interest. If you carry a balance, paying earlier in the month can shave off a few dollars in finance charges. Read the Bankrate feature "Pay credit card early" for more on that strategy.

The credit score doesn't care when you pay or how many times a month you pay. It cares about the reported balance on each card, as these balances figure into your debt-to-credit-limit ratio, or utilization. Utilization accounts for 30 percent of your FICO score, the most widely used scoring model. It considers the overall utilization and the highest utilization on any one card.

Most credit card issuers, including Bank of America, send updates to the consumer reporting agencies every month. The balance reported "in most cases is going to be the amount that was on the last billing statement," says Barry Paperno, consumer operations manager at FICO.

"How you can benefit is by making a payment before the billing date for charges that were incurred in that month," Paperno says. The early payment can reduce the reported balance, which can lower your utilization and help raise your score.

This tactic proves most useful when you have a sizable balance on a card with a low limit. With only $500 in available credit, it's easy to run up a high utilization after a few purchases.

Let's say you go shopping at the mall and spend $400 on clothes. If that balance is reported as is, it would put your utilization on the card at 80 percent. Not good. Instead you make a payment of $300 before the next closing date, and refrain from new charges. Now the $100 balance gets reported, and your debt ratio has gone down to 20 percent -- a much more reasonable amount.

If you prepay the current month's charges before the next closing date, a zero balance should get reported.

One rule to remember: If you get a bill, you must pay at least the minimum, regardless of whether you reduced the balance earlier in the billing cycle.

An easier score-building and money-saving strategy doesn't involve early payments at all. Pay on time, apply for credit sparingly and keep statement balances as lean as possible. Try to use less than 30 percent of the credit limit in any given month, and less than 10 percent for maximum score benefit.

Good luck!

source: Bank Rate

By Shelly K. Schwartz • Bankrate.com

In today's turbulent economy, there's little left to hang your hat on. Jobless claims are at a 25-year high, stocks continue their volatile course and the housing market remains in the doldrums.

For many families, the only port in the storm are the life insurance products they purchased to reduce their exposure to risk -- from life insurance policies, which provide for their loved ones if the breadwinner passes away, to annuities, which create guaranteed income during retirement.
Trouble among life insurers
With all the ratings downgrades and investment losses plaguing the insurance industry, however, even those seem suddenly vulnerable.

"I've gotten quite a lot of calls from clients," says Brion Harris, an independent financial adviser with Premier Planning Group in Annapolis, Md. "They've seen the news about all the banking failures and are worried the insurance industry is going to be next to say, 'We're not going to be able to honor our commitments.'"

Indeed, in recent weeks the financial strength and creditworthiness of several leading insurers -- including The Hartford Financial Services Group, Genworth Financial and Conseco -- have been downgraded by credit rating agencies Standard & Poor's, Moody's, A.M. Best and Fitch Ratings. They are among several life insurers that have taken steps to apply for funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

And one insurer, Shenandoah Life Insurance Co., in Roanoke, Va., which was licensed to do business in 31 states plus the District of Columbia, announced in February it had been placed into receivership by state regulators to protect policyholders and will attempt to rehabilitate its cash-strapped business.

A moratorium has been placed on the payment of certain claims and benefits, pending review of the company's financial position.

The ongoing high-profile bailout of insurance giant American International Group, or AIG, has only compounded fears of a widespread industry collapse, though its trouble stemmed from losses on bad derivatives bets rather than its insurance division.

So how safe are your life insurance policies and annuities -- and what happens if your insurance company goes belly up?
Industry highly regulated
First, a little perspective.

In most cases, insurance companies under financial duress are simply snapped up by a competitor, and the policies and annuities transfer seamlessly to the new company, with terms and guarantees intact.

Since 1983, when the National Organization of Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Associations, or NOLHGA, was created, at least 70 multistate life insurance companies that were taken over by state insurance departments were ultimately liquidated -- a better track record than most industries. Others were either sold or rehabilitated.

Regardless of outcome, however, the industry itself is highly regulated to protect policyholders.

For starters, every company that sells insurance is regulated by the state in which it does business. State insurance commissioners require those companies to maintain a reserve fund large enough to meet the majority of its obligations to policyholders.
Steps state regulators take
When a company enters a period of financial difficulty, the state insurance department initiates a process whereby every attempt is first made to help the company return to profitability.

If the company cannot be rehabilitated and is declared insolvent, the insurance commissioner can seek authority to seize its assets and operate the company pending liquidation.

The state then conducts an accounting of the company's assets and liabilities, transfers those assets to cash and distributes it among creditors with valid claims against the insurer. Policyholders can then make claims through their state guaranty association, sometimes referred to as a liquidation bureau.

"In essence, the state becomes the administrator of your insolvent insurer," says Mike Barry, a spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute. "Consumers should feel confident that their life insurance policies are safe. We have a very strict system of state regulation in the U.S. which sees to it that life insurers are adequately capitalized, and that has kept the number of insolvencies to a very minimal level."

Barry says most state insurance departments would first try to convince a healthy life insurer to accept some or all of the insolvent insurer's "book of business," providing yet another safety net for policyholders.
Guarantees in place
As an added layer of protection, all companies selling life or health insurance policies must also be members of their state guaranty association, which collects fees from insurers and provides coverage to resident policyholders in the event of insolvency, up to specified limits.

Laws governing those limits and the types of policies covered can vary by state, but most set basic limits of $300,000 in life insurance death benefits and $100,000 in cash surrender or withdrawal value for life insurance.

The overall benefit cap in most states for an individual life is $300,000, though some states set higher maximums, NOLHGA reports.

If your policy value is higher than that amount, you won't necessarily suffer a loss.

According to NOLHGA, the value of your policy in excess of guaranty association benefit limits is eligible for submission as a policyholder claim against the estate of the failed insurance company. The contract holder may receive distributions as the company's assets are liquidated by the receiver.

"These companies usually have substantial assets even when they've become insolvent. So if your policy is over the guaranteed limit, that amount becomes a claim and because you're a policyholder, those claims get paid out first," says Sean McKenna, a NOLHGA spokesman.

Don't head for the exits
Just because your insurance company gets downgraded or placed under the control of state regulators does not mean you should run out the door, says Rita Cheng, a Certified Financial Planner for Ameriprise Financial Services in Bethesda, Md., who says she's received calls from concerned clients.

And whatever you do, don't cancel your policy until you've got a new one in hand, she says. Who's to say you still qualify for the same rates -- or any insurance coverage at all -- if your health has changed for the worse?

"If you're not comfortable, do your due diligence and apply for coverage with another company, but don't make hasty decisions," says Cheng. "The last thing you want to do is be walking around uninsured."

Another piece of advice? Don't stop making payments to your current policy, even if your company is in receivership (under state regulatory control). Nonpayment of your premium may cause your policy to be canceled or reduced in value.

source: Bank Rate

Karen Burns

You can’t pick up a paper, thumb through a magazine, listen to the radio, watch TV, or log on these days without being pummeled by the relentless news: Unemployment is up. The economy is down. The sky is falling and it's aimed right for your head.

As if looking for a job wasn’t hard enough.

You’re tempted to just stop consuming news. You’re tempted to just give up the job hunt. But you need to keep up with the world, and you need to find a job.

What to do? Consider these words of wisdom from Dr. Cox on ABC's Scrubs: “Statistics mean nothing to the individual.” Cox was talking about appendicitis (in an episode called “My Hard Labor” ) but he could just as easily have been talking about joblessness and the current economy.

Dr. Cox knows, and you should know, that statistics are useful when describing large populations. But you are only one person. You need only one job. Using statistics as an indicator of your individual chance of success is not only discouraging, it’s downright unrealistic.

Here’s an idea: Get used to thinking of yourself as an exception. And then position yourself, in the eyes of potential employers, as an exception. (You do this by clearly describing yourself and what you do in terms of profit generation. That’s what employers care about—the old bottom line!)

Yes, 13 million of people are out of work. But that’s them. You’re you. Show yourself as capable, independent, motivated, and knowledgeable—the exception—and you have just greatly increased the odds of landing the job you need.

source: US News

President Obama, here is a deceptively simple action item to put on your agenda for business growth, working families, and a green future: Make it the norm for everyone to work at home at least one day a week. That single step could raise productivity, save energy, decrease pollution, reduce traffic congestion, cut household expenses, increase quality of family life, and keep educated women in the work force.

Workers of the world, go remote!

During this time of economic crisis and reinvention of global capitalism, one of the things crying out for reinvention is the rigid workplace of the last century. It is amazing in the digital age that most work is still associated with industrial age work rhythms and the symbolic chains that tie workers, knowledge and otherwise, to fixed locations. Flexible workplaces with flexible hours and days are long in coming.

Many U.S. cities have become commuter nightmares as urban sprawl sends people across longer distances in their cars every week day. According to the 2008 U.S. Census estimates, 84 percent of the U.S. population lives within 363 metropolitan areas that spill over central city boundaries and, in some cases, over state lines. Jobs within central business districts have been declining, while jobs outside a ten-mile ring have been growing. Vehicle miles traveled have increased twice as fast as population growth.

The daily commute to work has high costs in time, aggravation, fuel consumption, and pollution. If it became a staggered commute of four days a week for everyone, then perhaps 20 percent of the traffic could be gone, vanished, poof, just like that.

Choosing how long to work and on what schedule has long showed productivity benefits. People are less stressed when they can adjust their hours or days to family or personal needs. A greater feeling of control is associated with more energy and better health, studies show, making those workers more productive. Some savvy senior executives stay out of their offices occasionally even when not traveling, because they get more done in a setting with no interruptions, at home or elsewhere. The CEO of a global professional services firm has made a quiet table in a restaurant his preferred office-away-from-the-office, sometimes for the entire day.

For many working parents, the chance to work remotely is the primary way to achieve work-life balance. Many women leave high-powered corporate and professional careers when they have children, frequently starting their own businesses they can run from home, because there is no flexibility and no middle ground between the all-out grind at a workplace demanding physical presence or opting out. A norm of remote work for everyone would ease the strain.

It is a 24/7 world of work anyway. Somebody is always awake and working somewhere in the world at any time, and he might be your customer, vendor, or teammate. If a professional can have a conference call in her pajamas in the evening after the kids are in bed, why shouldn't she spend the next day at home, finishing the report while they play nearby? Free agents and independent contractors have this privilege but at the cost of security and fringe benefits.

Technology exists to make remote work feasible and effective. Cell phones have liberated people from desks. Cisco's telepresence capabilities make it possible to feel as though you are in the meeting room with people anywhere in the world, sitting just across the conference table. Imagine that in the home. The need for high-speed network connections is another argument for universal broadband and wi-fi access, with tax deductibility or reimbursement to employees for the connections to their home, as IBM does in India, for example.

The barriers are the usual human ones. Without a culture of strong accountability, collaboration, trust and personal responsibility, remote work doesn't work. That culture is missing in too many organizations. Managers don't always know how to coordinate and communicate with people they do not see face to face; they must value the work product and not the face time. Leadership is important. People need clear goals, deadlines, and performance metrics. Team members need trust and the ability to rely on and fill in for one another. And just as managers should not discriminate against people who choose more remote work time, those who work flexibly need to make sure they do not appear to put their personal lives above their commitments to colleagues, companies, and outcomes.

To reinvent the work place, we need public officials to put the infrastructure and permission in place, companies to start the change process, and people to learn how to work together with new norms. With Stephanie Khurana, founder of several high-tech companies and now the flexible consulting firm, Higher Aims, I want to start a dialogue about etiquette for the flexible workplace. Let's do it with the time we are saving and the energy we are conserving by not going into the office one day a week.

Harvard Business

It makes a difference whether it's a jeweler or a scrap dealer who's doing the buying. And don't expect to get the appraised value.
Kathy M. Kristof, Personal Finance
May 10, 2009

Selling old jewelry out of necessity or for profit has become a trend of late, with consumers flooding pawnshops and packing up their gold and silver in prepaid envelopes for scrap.

But how do you get the best value for your jewelry?

How much you'll get depends on what you have, whom you're selling to and how much it weighs.

First, a reality check.

It is exceptionally rare to sell a secondhand piece for anything close to what it cost to purchase, said Howard Rubin of the National Assn. of Jewelry Appraisers. You also won't get anything close to the appraised value, if the jewelry was appraised for insurance purposes.

That's because insurance appraisals are based on what it would cost to replace the item, assuming you are buying retail. And the retail price includes a lot of overhead, such as a profit for the manufacturer, the wholesaler and the retailer. When you're selling, the buyer wants to earn a profit too.

Does that mean you'll get 70% of what you paid? Half? Rubin declined to speculate. The answer varies widely and can be affected by the beauty and rarity of the piece as well as where and when you bought originally.

In other words, this can be a way to raise cash. But don't be fooled into thinking you're going to turn a profit. You shouldn't sell any jewelry that you really like, unless you're desperate.

Now, objectively evaluate the piece.

Start with whether it's attractive and fashionable. Would you wear it today -- assuming you weren't affected by the sentimental pull of its being your grandmother's favorite brooch?

There are myriad estate jewelry buyers in virtually every major city that can be found in the yellow pages or on the Web. Rubin suggested that you visit several -- favoring jewelers in your neighborhood -- and ask what they'd offer.

Local jewelers are likely to give you the best price, he said, partly because they'll see you as a potential customer.

The downside: If they're not normally in the business of buying old jewelry, they might offer you a trade-in rather than cash.

Jewelers and estate jewelry buyers are also the best bet for selling outdated jewelry that includes large, attractive or valuable gems. Scrap dealers and refiners are interested in the metal value, not necessarily in resetting the gemstones.

A jeweler, on the other hand, might be interested in buying nice gems to place in an updated setting.

If no jeweler or estate buyer is willing to give you what you think the item is worth, try peddling it on EBay or Craigslist, where you connect directly with other consumers, who may have the same taste as you.

What if all you've got are the ugly but heavy gold chains from the "Saturday Night Fever" era? With these, your best bet is selling to a refiner for the melted-metal value, said Jeff Clark, editor of an industry newsletter called BigGold.

With gold prices near historical highs, heavy rings and chains could bring a pretty penny -- about $850 per troy ounce of pure gold.

To figure out how much you'll get for an individual piece, look for a karat stamp. This is normally on the inside of a ring, and on or near the clasp of a necklace or bracelet.

If the stamp shows that it's 24-karat gold, your item is pure and likely to be worth nearly the current spot price of the metal. But it's more likely to be 14 karat (about 58% pure), which means you need almost twice as much weight to get the same gold content and payoff.

Can't find a stamp? The piece may have been sized, filed or cleaned so much that the stamp was cut or worn away. Or it could be that your item simply isn't gold.

A quick way to determine whether it's not gold is to expose it to a magnet. If it sticks, and it's not gray or green in color, it's something else. Gold is not magnetic, Clark said. (Gold is sometimes alloyed with iron, which is magnetic, but that alloy will make it turn gray or green.)

Once you determine the gold content, weigh all the pieces with the same gold content and multiply the total weight by 0.912. Why? A troy ounce is a touch heavier than an ordinary ounce, so you have to adjust.

If you have a full troy ounce, you can now multiply the spot price by the percentage of gold content. (See chart.) In other words, if gold is selling for $850 an ounce and your gold is 14 karat, or 58.3% pure, it's worth about $495. ($850 times 58%.)

Dillon Gage Refinery in Dallas pays 98% of the gold's value, after subtracting a $30 assay fee per lot, Clark said. Precious Metal Recovery in Farmington Hills, Mich., pays 95% of the value but doesn't charge an assay fee, which is a charge for verifying the gold content.

The catch with selling to a refiner? You'd better not want the item back. Refineries determine the metal's purity by melting it. If you don't like the price after the jewelry is melted, you can ask for the blob of gold back, but the necklace is gone for good.

Then there are scrap dealers -- including many companies that advertise on television that they will give you cash for your gold. But they will turn around and sell it to a refiner. Which means that in order to make a profit for themselves, they'll pay you less, Clark said.

"It's a popular movement for people to try to turn their jewelry into cash," Clark said. "But you're going to get a lot less from these scrap dealers than you would from a refinery."

kathykristof24@gmail.com

source: LA Times

Forget Those Fancy Dinners Out, Americans Are Buying Frozen Pizza and Oreos

By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ
ABC NEWS Business Unit
May 7, 2009


The recession has led Americans to change just about every aspect of their daily lives. One of the most dramatic has been the decline in families eating out at restaurants.

For instance, sales at Olive Garden are down 1.4 percent, and Red Lobster sales have dropped 4.6 percent. LongHorn Steakhouses has seen a 5.4 percent sales drop, while Chili's is down 5.2 percent.

But people still need to eat, and that is allowing some companies to profit -- filling the void left by the empty tables at your local Applebee's (where sales there are down 3 percent).

So, what are Americans filling their stomachs with instead?

For starters, McDonald's, and maybe a frozen pizza and some Oreos washed down with Sunny Delight.

Basically, the trend is that families want easy-to-prepare foods and some comforts, and parents appear to be turning to the foods they ate in childhood.



"If you are selling stuff that people need -- not discretionary items -- you have fared pretty well through the recession," said Brian Hamilton, co-founder and chief executive officer of Sageworks, which tracks data for companies. "If you're selling things that people need and you can get them at a discount, that store's sales are doing pretty well."

Because of this, grocery stores are generally doing better than the rest of the economy, Hamilton said.

He also noted that a fancy frozen pizza might seem like a luxury purchase, but in reality it is still a few dollars cheaper than buying from your local pizza parlor.

When Kraft announced its earnings earlier this week, that was the clear message. Sales of its "convenient meals" rose 8.2 percent driven by DiGiorno frozen pizza and Oscar Mayer meats. Lunchables anyone?

Shopping Cheap

Sales of Kraft's macaroni and cheese dinners are up "double digits" from the same period last year, according to the company's earnings statement. The company's Oreos, Capri Sun and Kool-Aid also saw strong sales.

They're not quite luxury foods, but all can make an affordable treat when budgets are tight.

It's also no surprise that fast food chains are benefiting as Americans still want to eat out but keep a tighter grasp on their wallets.


For instance, Dunkin' Donuts has benefited from consumers who can't afford Starbucks but still need their morning cup of java.

"It's a recession that's not created equal," Hamilton said. "People are obviously going shopping instead of going out."

Another big seller: rotisserie chickens from local grocery stores, Hamilton said.


And McDonald's has seen blockbuster results around the world. The company's first-quarter earnings were up 3.5 percent, driven in part by strong sales of breakfast sandwiches. (McDonald's has also been trying to steal Starbucks' customers with upscale coffees and cafes in some locations.) The company also benefited from strong sales of drinks and chicken sandwiches.


"Consumers seemed more willing to use foodservice as a special occasion on the weekend," Michele Schmal, vice president of foodservice product development at research group NPD said in a recent report. "Perhaps they are looking for a chance for a little escape via affordable luxuries, amidst the economic doom and gloom."

source: ABC News

It isn't easy to face down a job interview, particularly in this environment. Prepare for it
By Liz Wolgemuth
Posted May 8, 2009

At an interview last month for an associate position at a major consulting firm, one candidate reports whipping through a marathon afternoon session and being asked about a business case with "very little time to organize a response." A different candidate reports having interviewed in January for an associate position at the same consulting firm and being questioned largely on experience. Both candidates said they got, and accepted, offers from the company—and the latter offered a bit of advice to others interviewing for the position: "If you are friendly, warm, and knowledgeable, then things ought to go well."

These firsthand accounts of interviewing experiences from Glassdoor.com may offer job seekers some of the more useful insights into the abyss of the interview process. The website launched last year with give-and-get salary info and employer reviews (offer up your own salary or your review and you'll get entry to the others), but these days job seekers are hunting for work in a much more competitive environment and may be less interested in the insider details that would help them negotiate a higher bonus than in the kind of details that will help them get an offer. The appeal of Glassdoor's interviewing offerings has much to do with the seeming total opacity of the process. In this economy, nerves are running particularly high. That's why preparation is key.

Here are key steps to preparing for a job interview:

Know the company: Ferreting out basic details on the company you're applying to seems like one of the most obvious efforts candidates would undertake, but it's not a given that they will. Ellen Gordon Reeves, author of the recently released Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview?, recalls working at a book publishing company and interviewing candidates who thought they were there for a magazine job. It's not just young people who underprepare, Reeves says. Job seekers should be doing rather ambitious research—reading annual reports, learning company business plans, and setting up Google Alerts so they're up to date on company news. Some career coaches teach job candidates to learn the issues or problems a company is facing and to prepare some thoughts on tackling those issues.

Research the people: It's important to know what the company does, but it may be even more important to know who you'll be talking to once you get there. Reeves suggests asking who you'll be interviewing with—name and title. Then get familiar with his or her staff biography and LinkedIn profile. "You need to know as much as possible about the people you're interviewing with," Reeves says. It's not a fail-safe, however. Company plans could change, and you might end up interviewing with someone entirely different.

Find an insider: Find someone who knows this company and can provide valuable insights into the work you'll be doing, Reeves suggests. He may be able to provide some details on the people you'll be interviewing with and their style. He may also be able to tell you about the person who's leaving the job you're interviewing for and about his or her skills and the issues he or she dealt with.

Know what's coming: Check out the Glassdoor data, even if your company isn't among those listed. If you're lucky enough to be applying for a software engineering job at Microsoft, you'll have four interview reviews to check out. But if you're applying for a software engineering job at a small company in Indiana, just reading through the 215 sample software engineer interview questions can still be useful preparation. Job seekers tend to fear the interview experience because it's filled with unknowns. "The only thing that can ease the anxiety is information," says Robert Hohman, founder and chief executive of Glassdoor. Arming yourself with potential questions and reading what others suggest as good answers can prepare you for the often hypothetical level of conversation in job interviews. It's easy to get stymied and stunned by a seemingly impossible question—i.e., How many blades of grass are there in Michigan?—but the interviewer is generally looking to see how a candidate thinks and processes, not to test her level of knowledge on Midwest horticulture.

Study your résumé: Your résumé should be well tailored to the job that you're applying to, so much that it should serve as a kind of outline and study manual for your interview preparation, Reeves says. Use the requirements for the job as spelled out in the job posting to tailor your résumé. Then, you'll be automatically speaking to your relevant work experience and qualifications. In preparing for the interview, you should recruit friends and family to "test you on your résumé the way you'd test yourself before an exam," Reeves says.

source: US News

After a couple of surprising reports, economists say the market may be heading toward a turnaround.

By Jessica Dickler, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: May 6, 2009: 1:12 PM ET


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- In the midst of a recession, massive job loss announcements have become commonplace. But after some reports Wednesday, economists are starting to talk about a job market recovery.

Since the recession began in December 2007, the economy has shed about 5 million jobs, according to government data. Economists expect the Labor Department's report to show that the economy lost another 620,000 jobs in April when it is released Friday.

The unemployment rate is predicted to rise to 8.9% from 8.5%, which would be the highest since September 1983.

But there's a chance the numbers may not be so bleak.

Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. reported Wednesday that the number of layoffs announced in April fell for the third straight month

And payroll-processing firm Automatic Data Processing said private-sector employment decreased by 491,000 in April, a 31% improvement from the revised 708,000 drop in March. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected a loss of 643,000 jobs last month.

In a conference call with reporters, ADP spokesman Joel Prakken said the better-than-expected report bodes well for Friday's government number.

Economists share that sentiment. Along with other recent indicators, "this sharp turn of the ADP hints of a recovery," according to Robert Brusca, chief economist at Fact and Opinion Economics.
0:00 /2:38Recruiters: Jobs available now!

Brusca says once the economy begins to pick up later this year, jobs will bounce back quickly.

"The low point in employment generally comes one or two months into the recovery, there isn't much lag time." he said. Now, "we are laying the ground work for a good snap back in the economy."

Not so fast: Other economists agree that job losses may be more moderate going forward, but say a speedy recovery is unlikely this year.

Gad Levanon, senior economist at The Conference Board, says that although there have been some positive signs indicating a recovery in the job market, the real turning point is still a ways away.

In a recovery, employment is often a lagging indicator, he explained, because employers will wait until they feel certain the recession is over before they start hiring workers again. Once the economy improves, it could take another 3 to 6 months before employment picks up, Levanon said.

Weak consumer spending and a higher savings rate could further slow the engine for growth, he added.

But a speedy rebound in employer confidence is not out of the question.

"There has been a real sea change in the leading indicators over the last few months, which now gives us very objective reasons to be hopeful that the recession will be drawing to a close," said Lakshman Achuthan, managing director of Economic Cycle Research Institute.

While Achuthan predicts the pace of job losses should moderate through the end of the summer, he says the nation will lose well over an additional million jobs before this recession ends.

"It's great news that the end of the recession is in sight," he said, but "let's be clear, the pain is not over." To top of page

source: CNN]

By Christina Couch • Bankrate.com

The expression "a penny saved is a penny earned" doesn't cut it these days. But saving a few dollars here and there can add up, particularly if you park the money in a high-interest-bearing savings account or, better yet, a tax-favored vehicle such as a 529 plan or an IRA containing a mix of investments that offer higher returns over the long run.

OK, so 10 percent annual returns from the stock market may seem farfetched after the recent market mayhem. But we contend that it's not unreasonable to expect 7 percent annualized returns from a conservative blend of bonds and stocks over a period of 15 years. These are the assumptions we used below to calculate how the few bucks you squirrel away today can turn into big-time savings later.

Form a cooking co-op
Sure, cooking is cheaper than eating out, but a daily home-cooked meal simply isn't an option for many full-time working parents. Ginny Bowie, vice president of a Richmond, Va.-based financial securities firm and mother of three, solved her scheduling and budgeting dilemma in one swoop by forming a cooking co-op.

"Every Tuesday night, I cook dinner for three families besides my own, which is about 18 to 20 people, and deliver it to their door," Bowie says. "Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, the three other families cook for me."

Bowie's Web site and DVD, "If it's Tuesday ... it's my night 2 cook," contain recipes and tips for starting a co-op. She says cooking in bulk has cut her grocery bill in half and practically eliminated her need for eating out.

What it's worth
The average household spent $6,133 per year on food -- $3,465 on groceries and $2,668 on meals away from the home -- in 2007, the most recent year for which data are available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. We suspect food prices soared in 2008, but let's use these numbers anyway. Assuming that a co-op could reduce the grocery bill by half and lower restaurant expenses by, say, 60 percent (factoring in the occasional meal out), families could save $3,333 per year by going co-op.

Here's the payoff for switching meal plans:

• A one-time deposit of $3,333 grows to $9,196 in 15 years.
• Annual deposits of $3,333 add up to $83,755.

Find free entertainment
Between nights out at rock concerts, opera and theater performances, some Americans spend more on entertainment than on groceries and gasoline combined. To cut down entertainment expenses, Jaclyn Young, a Washington, D.C.-based actress, hunts for free events in her area and volunteers as an usher for live theater.

"I see at least two plays every weekend, and since tickets are $18 to $45 apiece, that's a lot of money if I wasn't ushering," Young says. "I volunteer at 15 theaters and save probably $160 a month doing it."

What it's worth
We don't recommend forgoing all cultural events, but consumers who opt for free or low-cost concerts, lectures, outdoor movies and art shows even one night per weekend can easily reduce their entertainment budget by $50 to $100 per month. For purposes of our calculation, let's split the difference and assume savings of $75 a month or $900 a year for 15 years.

• A one-time deposit of $900 grows to $2,483.
• Annual deposits of $900 add up to $22,616.

Use the public library
Home entertainment costs can be considerable if you add up cable television, satellite radio, video games and movie rentals. Young recommends getting familiar with the public library. In addition to carrying books, magazines, audiobooks, films and CDs, libraries frequently offer free children's events, language programs, financial literacy workshops and performing arts events to cut your budget down further. If the library in your area is scant on
9 cash-saving strategies that pay big bucks

What it's worth
According to the School Library Journal, the world's largest book review publication, the average cost of a new hardcover book is $26.43 ($18.02 for paperbacks). Families that buy one book per month and rent two to three movies at $4 to $5 a pop can easily run up a $30-per-month tab or $360 annually.
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• A one-time deposit of $360 grows to nearly $993.
• Annual deposits of $360 add up to $9,046 in 15 years.

Bargain shop
When buying luxury items, save some cash doing it. For James Beveridge, a Chicago-based financial analyst, that means using bartering sites such as Craigslist to find used goods and seeking out promotional codes for discounts on all other online purchases.

"I use sites like Chainlove.com (an online bike supply store) a lot that only list one item at a time, but for 50 (percent) to 90 percent off," Beveridge says. "If I can't find something at a one-deal-at-a-time shop, I comparison shop at places like Bizrate.com and Pricegrabber.com to see if I can get a discount."

What it's worth
For Beveridge, it's worth a lot. Making 75 percent of all purchases through online discounts, Beveridge estimates that he saves $40 a month simply by shopping around for deals. Because you can get everything from pencils to plane tickets discounted online, price-comparing families could shave $50 to $200 off their spending budgets each month.

• A one-time deposit of $600 to $2,400 amounts to $1,655 to $6,622, respectively.
• Annual deposits of these amounts add up to $15,077 to $60,310, respectively.

Communicate cheaply
Madison DuPaix, a Madison, Wis., mother of three and author of the finance blog My Dollar Plan, always looks for ways to maximize savings, such as cutting the phone bill. After switching from a local phone service to Vonage last year, DuPaix pocketed an extra $240, or $20 per month. Thanks to broadband Internet phone systems like Vonage and Skype -- a service that allows free member-to-member calls and long distance for a penny per minute -- thrifty consumers can all but forget about footing landline bills.

What it's worth
Households that eliminate a landline and stick with cell phone plans can cut $30 per month out of their utilities budget, and those who trade cell phones for broadband phone systems can save even more. Shove $40 per month, or $480 at the end of the year, in a tax-favored savings plan for 15 years, and here's what happens:

• A one-time deposit of $480 grows to $1,324.
• Annual deposits of $480 add up to $12,062.

Weatherize the house
Your kid's college fund could be flying out the window, says Jonni McCoy, author of "Miserly Moms: Living Well on Less in a Tough Economy."

"Consumers save 3 percent on their heating bill for every degree they turn down the thermostat," McCoy says. "They also lose money by not replacing the weather stripping around their windows, washing clothes in hot water and not insulating pipes around their water heater."

What it's worth
It depends on location. In states with moderate weather year round, tightening the insulation screws may have little effect. For those living in more extreme climates, simple steps like installing heating and air-conditioning timers can save hundreds. According to a study by the Energy Information Administration -- the U.S. government's official source for energy statistics -- the average household spent $1,137 last winter in heat alone. Lowering the thermostat just 5 degrees in winter means reducing costs by 15 percent, or saving $170.55 after one season.

• A one-time deposit of $170.55 grows to $471.
• Annual deposits add up to $4,286 in 15 years.resources, check out what's on campus at the nearest college or university.

Raise the deductibles
The average individual annually spends $4,704 on health insurance premiums, according to the Kaiser Foundation; $1,954 is spent on car insurance premiums, according to Ratewatch auto insurance; and $804 is spent on homeowners insurance, reports the Insurance Information Institute. That's $621.83 per month on insurance premiums alone. McCoy says that smart spenders can sidestep some of those premiums by raising their deductibles.
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"How much you save is going to vary from policy to policy," she says, "but it does pay to go back and see where you can trim some fat."

McCoy adds that consumers can also save cash by purchasing all insurance policies through one provider.

What it's worth
According to Consumerreports.org, raising your homeowners insurance deductible from $250 to $1,000 can save you a sweet 25 percent. That's $201 alone. Assuming that raising your deductible could lower your other two insurance bills by a modest 10 percent, consumers can save $866.80 per year on average.

• A one-time deposit of $866.80 grows to $2,392.
• Annual deposits add up to $21,782 in 15 years.

Time the vacations
For Leah McCombe, a New York City-based art director, saving money means scouting hot vacation deals.

"My boyfriend and I just got back from Nicaragua, and the whole trip -- airfare and tours -- only cost us $500 each," McCombe says. "That's what happens when you vacation somewhere cheap in the off-season."

On top of saving on airfare, those who leave their hometown when nobody else does can also save anywhere from 20 percent to 50 percent off hotels and tourist activities. Combine that savings with discounts from online promotional codes, and consumers can travel much cheaper this year.

What it's worth
A study conducted by Visa shows that the average consumer plans to blow $1,654 per person on their summer vacation. Flip that vacation from summer to winter, factor one-fourth off hotel, airfare and entertainment, and that $1,654 drops down to a $1,241 vacation budget for a $413 savings.

• A one-time deposit of $413 grows to $1,139.
• Annual deposits of $413 add up to $10,378.

Negotiate
The art of haggling is alive and well. DuPaix, a staunch advocate of negotiating for good bargains, says she's gotten breaks on everything from plumbing to preschool simply by asking.

"It especially works if it's a local vendor that operates on reputation or you've been a loyal customer," says DuPaix. "Several years ago, we missed two (credit card) payments and we called and said, 'Hey, we've been great customers. Would you be willing to waive that fee?' Both times they did."

What it's worth
You can't put a number on this one. DuPaix saves an extra $360 per year on preschool bills, but amateur hagglers may not be so lucky. While there's no guarantee that haggling will pay off, as DuPaix says, "Why not? It couldn't hurt."

source: Bank Rate

Heart Disease, Diabetes, Depression Can Result From Losing Your Job

By RADHA CHITALE
ABC News Medical Unit
May 8, 2009


The Cleveland job market has not been kind to Karen Gaebelein, 56, and her health has suffered because of it.

"I lost my first job because the position was eliminated" in August 2008, said Gaebelein, from Broadview Heights, Ohio, who worked as a manager at two credit union offices.

"I've always been an emotional person but I noticed myself getting sadder," she said.

Gaebelein was diagnosed with depression. Her diagnosis is only one of the many health problems that can arise after losing a job, according to new research.

"Jobs are so fundamental to who you are and where you fall into society," said Kate Strully, an assistant professor in sociology at the State University of New York at Albany and the author of a new study. "In looking at what happens to people after they lose such a big component of their class position and social identity ... [the study asked] did they lose their job because they were sick or did they get sick because they lost their job?"

In the study, published today in the journal Demography, Strully examined employment data from 1991, 2001, and 2003 and found that losing a job is linked to a higher risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, heart attack, diabetes or depression, even when the person finds a new job. Losing a job through no fault of one's own, if a company shut down, for example, led to a 54 percent increase in that person reporting poor health.

Job Loss Affects Healthy People Too

Job loss increased the odds of a person developing a new stress-related health problem by 83 percent, even in people who reported being in good health prior to losing their job, the study showed.

"Prior health cannot predict if someone loses their job because of establishment closures," Strully said. "When we really focus on cases where health is not an issue ... we're confident that the health changes following job loss reflects the effect of job loss."

Jobless: No Certainty, Control, Or Predictability

Dr. Esther Sternberg, director of the Integrative Neural Immune Program at the National Institute of Mental Health, said Strully's findings are in keeping with what is generally known about how stress affects health, particularly in times of economic turmoil.

"Uncertainty, uncontrollability and unpredictability are all potent triggers of stress response," Sternberg said. "The financial storm is a perfect storm of triggers."

But stress is a protective evolutionary trait. Sternberg pointed out that the stress response is necessary to avoid danger.

"A field mouse in a new field who is not stressed and goes to sleep will get eaten by the next cat that comes along," Sternberg said.

Health problems occur when stress pumps hormones and chemicals into the body over long periods of time.

"Every time stressors occur, these systems activate," said Dr. Charles Raison, director of the Mind-Body Program at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. "[The chemicals] extract a little price from the tissues in the body, in the brain."

Over long periods of time, stress causes wear and tear in the body's tissues which, depending on the person, can lead to heart disease, mood disorders or chronic pain.

Today's Situation May Be Worse Than Before

Still, Strully's data is based on situations from the 1990s and early 2000s, when the economic climate was not as universally challenging as it is now. People who lost their jobs may have been in a better position to find alternate employment or receive financial help via credit, mortgages or family and friends.

"We were looking at a situation where the economy was better than now and there were still sizable health hazards associated with job loss," Strully said. "Common sense suggests that the situation today for displaced workers is probably worse."

Strully attempted to correct for the potential lack of access to health care and medication following job loss caused by decreased income and no health benefits by choosing subjects that reported good health, but acknowledged that those issues could have played a role in how people reported their health following job loss.

But even when the study subjects were covered by insurance, their health problems changed.

"Just having health insurance did not negate the negative effects of job loss," Strully said.

Support Is The Best Defense

Though it is difficult, Gaebelein manages to have enough money to pay for her antidepressants. In addition, she takes medication for high blood pressure and a hyperthyroid condition.

source: ABC News