Category Archives: Jobs

Getting out there

July 11, 2015 6:33 AM , Leave a Comment ,

I was chatting about work and life the other day over tea at Starbucks.  The conversation drifted in the direction of business networking.  Not the computer kind of network but the personal type of network.  The type that’s hard for me.

Networking really hasn’t changed at all since the first business office was set up.  Having a wide circle of friends and acquaintances always pays off.  Although we may live in an interconnected world of instantaneous communications we still have to initiate contact with other people in order for it to work.

I don’t mean just send emails back and forth or maybe even have a phone conversation but actually “talk” to the other person.  Whether that person is a client, a colleague or even a competitor at another company.  Being more than just a contact card in an email directory is important.  It means that you’re an actual human being that the other person might think of when it comes time to ask for a job, a business opportunity or an introduction to someone else.

Initiating contact doesn’t have to be a big production involving flowers or lunch or whatever.  You can just initiate contact by asking the other person how they’re doing during the course of your regular work exchange.  Do some “industry gossip”.  Talk about that other third company that has nothing to do with you or speculate on the future of your field.  Ask about their goals and plans.

The main thing is that you become a known quantity, that you have a personality, and that you’re a factor in their life.  Not a giant factor but a factor.  You’ll never expect them to break down and cry on your shoulder and you should not expect them to lend you money but at the very least if things go bad you can send out resumes to them, you can ask them if they know about any open bids, you can query them about some job applicant that they may know.

This is the way that the business world works, folks.  It always has and always will be this way.

Posted in: business, career, friends, goals, jobs, opportunities, plans, relationships, social networks, standards and practices, work

Comparisons and contrasts

February 3, 2015 6:40 AM , Leave a Comment ,

So there I am sitting on a bench waiting for my turn and feeling somewhat nervous.  Waiting for what? For indoor skydiving.  I know I’m not jumping out of a plane at 10,000 feet and that it’s totally safe but still…

 

As it turned out it was quite a lot of fun.  It’s just one of several new things that I’ve tried in the last year and that I will try in the coming year. I am trying to stretch out to try several new things (rock climbing and free running are next on the agenda) and so far they’ve all been quite exciting and fun.

During my vacation I tried out several new things including surfing (I would need 6 months of continuous practice to become an adequate surfer), ATV driving (somewhat terrifying) zip lines (fairly fun).

 

The Author, hanging on for dear life.

The Author, hanging on for dear life.

One thing I noticed during my zip line experience was how the zip line trainers were so at home in the trees that they were nonchalant and self-confident hooking themselves up to the lines and would fling themselves out into empty space without a second thought.  I suppose it’s due to the fact that they’ve done this so much that they’re accustomed to it now and they’ve lost all the reticence that first timers like me have.

I noticed the same attitude with the sky diving instructors.  They all had more than 5 years experience with the wind tunnel and with actual sky diving so that they could now just meander around the wind tunnel effortlessly and launch themselves up and down with just a slight shift of their body position.

On the drive home I started thinking about them and the zip line guys.  Basically they were doing the same job, providing safe thrills for tourists while doing something that they really loved.

I then started thinking about one of Leslie Farnsworth’s blogs about rat races not just here but in other countries.  One group of guys working in an ultra modern indoor wind tunnel, the other group working on a tropical paradise among the trees.  Who’s to say which group is luckier or has the better job.

The main thing though is that both groups get to do something fun, they get to meet a lot of interesting people while doing it, and of course they’re able to make a living doing it.

I think that’s the key thing that most people are looking for in a job or a career.  No matter where you live or what you do for a living you want to be able to do something that you will enjoy.

When you find that career or job that you like then the location really doesn’t matter as much.  The working experience more than makes up for any differences in salary or where the job is located.  Your working day becomes something to look forward to rather than a chore.

Sometimes when I’m working away and it’s a particularly rough week I have to step back and think about the times when work is a joy and when things were going well and remind myself why I got into this line of work in the first place.

 

Posted in: activities, career, jobs, life in general, thought

making ends meet and how much is it worth to you?

May 15, 2014 6:20 AM , Leave a Comment ,

I suppose everyone has an opinion on the minimum wage issue.  Some want to essentially double it, some want to abolish it, some hope that it will stay the same.

The argument to raise it is that the minimum wage has stagnated for several years while prices have risen and those in minimum wage jobs are in effect getting poorer.  American taxpayers have to pay to support these people in the form of food stamps and other forms of public assistance.  In essence those of us that pay taxes are subsidizing businesses that rely on minimum wage employees.

The argument to keep it at the current rate is that any increase in the minimum wage will lead to job losses as employers will not be able to maintain the same staffing level at increased pay rates.  Either that will happen or consumer prices will have to rise to offset the pay raises.  Or a combination of the two will happen.  In any case, pay raises will have to be paid for one way or the other.

The argument to lower or totally get rid of the minimum wage is that without a minimum wage law that employers would be able to hire more employees and create more jobs.

A few communities have increased the minimum wage on their own initiative and time will tell what will happen to the job market in those communities.

While I do support a rise in the minimum wage laws to keep up with the costs of living I have to ask how much of a rise is enough and how exactly is it to be paid for?

Those of us that enjoy the services and commodities of life provided to us by minimum wage workers have to realize that all of these benefits come to us due to the hard work and efforts of these people who don’t have as good a life as others.  They deserve to have a decent life for all their labor.

Those that make minimum wage have to realize that these pay raises don’t come out of thin air.  They have to be paid for either in the form of fewer jobs or more likely in the form of higher prices for everyone.

The balance will have to be found by the market in the form of prices that the public is willing to pay for everyday items.  Are you willing to pay $10 for a hamburger at a fast food chain?  $4 for an apple at the supermarket? $12 for a cup of coffee at some coffee chain?  I’m not saying that prices will go that high if we do raise the minimum wage but merely pointing out that these raises do resonate throughout the economy in various items and services that we have grown accustomed to having.

So what’s the answer?

Posted in: economy, jobs, thought

A rough start

March 16, 2014 7:18 AM , 2 Comments ,

A couple of weeks ago I posted about my 20th anniversary out of school.  It brought back memories of that December graduation in 1993 and the events thereafter.  It also made me think how that time frame went a long way towards shaping the next 20 years of my life.

My last semester in college and you’d think I could just cruise through it on auto-pilot.  Not hardly!  If anything it was the most challenging of all my semesters.  I was taking the most advanced research and computer classes I could before graduating.  I knew that my financial situation would not be great after school even if I landed a job immediately so I wanted to be current as possible before I got out into the big bad world.  On top of that I was taking elective courses like civil engineering surveying and environmental sciences to cross train as much as possible and have a wide range of knowledge.

I wanted to be a rabid football fan but I just couldn’t spare the time that fall.  I spent as much time as possible buried in books and classes that I had to give up much of my social life too.

Besides all of that I was worried about what all college kids worry about.  Finding a job.

I was in Colorado the previous Summer at a field camp doing some geology classes.  We were all sitting around in a beer garden one night after class when I had the realization that this was it for me as far as formal school.  That final vestige of childhood was being stripped away from me and for better or worse I was going to be fully on my own.

I took advantage of the school’s placement resources when I got back to campus that Summer and all through the Fall.  I wrote up a resume as best as I could and taking all the counselor’s advice and used the school’s print center to run off as many copies as I could.  Among other disadvantages, I would be without a computer or a printer.  I wouldn’t have a personal computer again till 1995.

So we skip ahead to finals week.  I had my classes well in hand and I was boxing up my apartment.  My lease was also ending so I had to be packed and ready to leave.  I had applied to get a refund for my utility and rent deposits.  The resumes I had sent out so far had yielded no results yet.

The registrar verified I had no outstanding loans or library books and cleared me to graduate.  I stepped out of the office and sneezed.  That was a sign of things to come.

I made my goodbyes to my friends.  I was much more socially awkward back then and really didn’t know how to handle such things.  In particular I bid goodbye to one young lady I really liked.  She still had a year to go in school.  We promised we’d write and we did for a while but I think we both knew we’d never see each other ever again.

The night before graduation and I’m deep into packing up.  I’ve got a raging headache, it’s unusually cold for early December.  I’m feeling even more miserable.

My parents show up.  They want to take me to dinner but I beg off and go to bed.  The next morning I can barely get out of bed.  My sinuses are pounding and graduation is an hour off.  My parents and other family members are waiting for me.  I take some cold medicine to keep me going an somehow I stagger to the graduation.  I’m dizzy, nauseous, coughing, and miserable.

Michel Halbouty, a legend in the Texas oil industry, hands me my diploma and shakes my hand.  I barely notice him.  It’s all I can do to keep from falling over.

After graduation my parents realize just how sick I am.  They pack up the rest of my stuff and drive me back to Houston.  I spend the next 2 weeks in bed with the flu from hell.

So I started my adult life after college in a sick-bed with a couple hundred bucks from deposit refunds, a car that was on its last legs, no girlfriend, and no job.

It would in fact take me six months to land my first job.  I had several false starts with recruiting agencies and want ads in the paper but I finally landed the job I would have for the next 8 years.  I got the job by walking in and asking for it.  And it wasn’t due to my degree or my work experience but by trading on my “computer expertise” and working for a small consulting company whose execs knew even less than I did about computers.

I started at 6 dollars an hour and felt like the biggest failure ever.  This is what I went to college for?  Over time of course that improved and my job skills would expand and my responsibilities would make me a more valued asset at the company but it was difficult to see the upside back then.

Posted in: career, decisions, future, illness, jobs, life in general, school

All I want for Christmas is a salary

December 4, 2013 7:14 AM , Leave a Comment ,

I’ve noticed that some folks that I know won’t go to black Friday sales and will postpone shopping until the week before Christmas.

It’s not that they hate the maddening crowds or don’t like a bargains.  It’s that in the back of their minds they’re thinking about their paychecks and whether they’ll have a job by the end of December.

Being a salaried employee can be nerve-wracking at times.  Job security is a fleeting thing in the contemporary work place and the competitive nature of jobs can mean that you’re out in the middle of December looking for a job and that it’s going to be a lean Christmas.

So should employers take this into account when considering a dismissal?  Do they have a moral obligation to postpone firings till after the holidays?

Of course not.  The main focus of a business owner is to keep money coming into their business and to keep the paychecks flowing to those workers that are assets to the company.  Keeping people on for sentiments sake is fine but it drains money from the company and keeps your team from working at peak efficiency.

You have to remember that firings are typically not done on a whim or for capricious reasons.  Employees that are going to be fired usually have an established bad track record and that this is the last step of the process, not the first.

I do think that an appropriate step is to let a worker that is of dubious quality know that their job performance is not up to par before the holidays begin and that they are at risk of being dismissed in the near future.  They may decide to leave on their own or at least they can modify their holiday spending plans in advance.  I think that’s as much as an employer can do in this type of situation.

The only other thing I would add is that the employer has to take into the consideration the welfare of the rest of the company team that are doing their jobs well and that due to their efforts are entitled to their Happy Holidays.  Keeping bad employees on for sentiments sake is just harming everyone in the long run.

Posted in: business, Christmas, holidays, jobs

Jacks

October 1, 2013 7:56 PM , Leave a Comment ,

I’ve always known that I was  Jack of all trades.  I was never one to specialize or master any certain field.  In school I could pick up new concepts easily enough but soon other kids mastered them and surpassed my understanding or skill level.  My strength however lies in the fact that I can assimilate and accept various different skills sets from various disciplines.

Music is a good example.  I trained on the recorder, a flute like instrument, and although I picked up the keys alright I could never get them to work properly or as fluidly as some of my schoolmates.  My fingering technique was not fluid enough so I was relegated to the woodwind section while others did solos.

Some might feel anxiety over this concerning their job prospects but I’ve never been too worried.  I’ve always understood my role as a supporting player and have used this to plug myself into many different job situations.  So while I am no master salesman I can do an effective job at it and while I am not a certified image analyst I can still do some good work in that field.

What I can’t do is displace a specialist in their own field.  But again this is not a worrisome prospect as I can do many things that those specialists can’t.

Unfortunately it’s a specialist world these days as far as jobs.  We Jacks have to take what we can get and there is no social or professional club for us to congregate.  I hope however that if any other Jacks out there read this that they realize that they’re not alone and that there is hope in the job market for them.  Don’t give up, don’t stop expanding your skill set.

Jacks can be valuable team players when given the right opportunity.

Posted in: jobs, life in general