A Life After Layoff: Can You REALLY Get Fired Because Of Social Media?

 

[VIDEO] I'm sharing this video with you for practical advise. Yes you have freedom of speech, however, as we see in the recent murder of Charlie Kirk if you express joy over his death and do so on the internet you might be at risk of losing your job. A company might be concerned about the perception of their employees happy over something like this.

Real talk, I'm not too happy to see people lose their jobs over this. At the same time I would argue for decency. If you have nothing nice to say about anyone its best to say nothing. We've lost that.

When someone we don't agree with dies, that shouldn't be cause for losing a job. The example "TikTok" we see in the above video got me very upset because they indicated they had joy over a man's death. That's not the behavior of a reasonable human being.

With that said while I'm not happy that they lost their job over something they said online, I'm also glad that company will no longer employ someone who's shown their true character. My only hope is that they realize what got them in trouble and conduct themselves differently in the future.

Shouldn't we all!

Life After Layoff: Why A $100K Salary Isn't What It Used To Be

 

[VIDEO] I still dream of making six-figures in my career and don't think that's even a close goal to realize. And to make at least $100,000/yr. is that a good number in today's economy?

Think inflation, higher cost of living, or more expenses as far as housing, transportation, groceries, utilities, etc. And think about the increase in college tuition and by extension student loan debt. Is $100,000/yr. a good number to earn from working?

A Life After Layoff is a YouTube channel offering career advice from a recruiters perspective. One tagline is "becoming the CEO of your career". The question is how does the question of a $100,000 become a topic on a job about careers? One advice he gives at the end is certainly to make that much money in wages/salary is more attainable, but takes careful career planning.

To make that six-figure goal, that's what I need at this moment.

Ken Coleman: Guy applies to 1K jobs

 

[VIDEO] Coleman is a Ramsey personality who views and critiques this man's video via Logical Finance where he applies to 1,000 jobs. Well actually he realized he applied to 1,003 jobs using different styles of resumes. He might use a resume with a graduating college senior or with only a high school diploma. He might use different names.

The results is that if he applied for 1K jobs he only  got a quarter of responses so about 250 about of 1K. I think the main critique is that the processes of these companies are broken. They don't adequately advertise what they're looking for in these positions. They have an entry-level position posted yet reject applicants because they have no experience.

And of course since the pandemic companies have had issues trying to recruit people. I can say from my own experience that companies right now are attempting to sweeten the pot with a higher wages. This is probably an extension of the idea of raising the minimum wage and my stance on that is it should be up to these private companies what their price floor is as far as wages.

Another takeaway from Ken Coleman is that you shouldn't just rely on a resume to help get you a job. I've been saying this about student loans - betting future earnings on student loans is a bad bet. Well playing the "resume lottery" is a bad bet and the returns won't be that great. Connections get the job to know someone who knows someone will move you forward. A piece of paper won't get that great first impression across.

Of course that's not to say don't craft a resume. Your connects want to see a resume anyway of course. I just think the issue is that it's just very difficult to stand out from the crowd. It doesn't matter if you want to be a fast food cook or some hot shot middle manager, job hunting is competitive. How will you place in the competition.

BTW, in my experience I feel as if connections didn't help when I looked for a job. It might depend upon the connections and perhaps the types of jobs they pursued. I've done better on my own, however, to be honest I'm still looking for that well paying job and that ideal position - just not sure what that is though. Regardless I'm doing fine where I am, however, always looking for something better.

Bloomberg: Inflation has turned $15/hr wages into a setback

 I wish I had seen this article a while back. Bloomberg:

The typical inflation rate is about 2%; this year, it’s been more like 5%. Workers who don’t know this, or who are slow to perceive the rise in prices they pay for goods like cars and groceries, won’t realize this, and will be happy with their unusually large raises. But companies, whose accountants and managers certainly know the true inflation rate, will also be happy, because they know they’re not actually paying more for labor.

That information asymmetry between workers and employers may be exactly what keeps wages from rising faster than inflation. If workers take a year to realize how much prices have gone up, they may be satisfied with the raises they got during the time of high inflation — even if that inflation ultimately turns out to be transitory. By then, it might be too late to negotiate for a real, inflation-adjusted raise. Many people suffer from what economists call “money illusion” — they tend to think of their income and wealth in pure dollars, instead of in terms of its real purchasing power, at least in the short term. Money illusion could in turn be a source of what economists call upward sticky nominal wages — the tendency of wages not to rise too fast in dollar terms, even when there’s a burst of inflation.

In other words, even if all the aforementioned economic factors driving up wages are very real, price rises could be happening independently of wage growth and could be eating up all the gains because wages simply don’t respond to inflation very quickly. By allowing prices to rise at a rapid clip just when workers are finally getting a bit of bargaining power, the U.S. might be wasting a golden opportunity to increase living standards.

Implications:

Eventually, people will realize that prices went up, and that their raises were illusory. At that point they will start getting mad. This is what happened in the 1970s, when a decade of high inflation coincided with — and possibly caused — real wage losses for the average American worker. Surveys later showed that the reason people didn’t like inflation was precisely that they thought their wages couldn’t keep up.

Economics is a weak subject of mine your wages go up but not enough to keep up with the prices of groceries and fuel. And we're in a time of weak economic growth.

Liberal Hivemind: Sen. Cruz triggers progressives by saying 'Get a job'

 

[VIDEO] This video is funny and shows the hilarity sometimes on Twitter. While often I use twitter to comment on what I see on wrestling it's not often that there are any comments on politics aside from sharing posts from this blog.

But it's hilarious that someone is debate the "lack of options" as far as unemployment benefits ending and then Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) makes an obvious point. Lack of options? Find a job, there are plenty of small businesses looking for workers. I work somewhere that could use some help and nationwide the news has been that many businesses large & small have been struggling to hire more workers.

And you got people out there thoughtlessly discussing lack of options because unemployment is ending. It's even ending here in Illinois and those who were in no rush to find a job hoping that they can continue to receiving "free money" might have to start scrambling. To expect money to flow in without doing much work as if money grows on trees is unrealistic.

It's amazing that you inject logic into a simple discussion and then the whole debate derails. Finding a job is a logical answer to having a "lack of options". Well whoever responded to Sen. Cruz' retort found that response offensive although hopefully Cruz is probably having himself a laugh at the meltdown.

You know I knew a Republican substitute teacher in high school once. I generally heard what he said while a few louder classmates just didn't agree with him not matter what he said. One thing that I was at odds with was his position that people need to go to work. We're talking the 1990s - oh where did the 90s go - the issue of that time was welfare to work.

In Chicago the city was a few years away from ultimately demolishing the public housing that have become havens for crime and poverty. What that ultimately meant was that you couldn't just live somewhere rent free. And also you just can't expect any gov't to just give you money for rent & food that trough of free money was ending.

Sadly that mentality isn't dying. The entitlement mentality is still around. And while I expect many Americans doesn't want people left behind unable to provide for themselves at the same time many Americans also don't want to be taken advantage of by the entitled.

Right Angle: Bars Become Restaurants to Dodge Texas COVID-19 Closure Rules

[VIDEO] Scott Ott, Vodkapundit - Stephen Green, and Bill Whittle discuss some 'rona news out of Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott has begun to take this virus very seriously and it proved to be controversial last month when he provided guidance to encourage more Texas citizens to wear masks. A lot of proud Texans were already saying they weren't going to vote for him or even declared him a R.I.N.O.

Either way another wrinkle as the Lone Star State continues to battle daily cases, how does one determine what's a bar or restaurant. Ott, Green, and Whittle discuss this and it's amazing how well intended a law or order might be and it might prove advantageous for someone who wants to be able to conduct business.

We're in very unprecedented and challenging times unfortunately. Businesspeople have been forced to make major decisions as far as their livelihoods which includes following the laws of Texas. Many have been forced to shutter not only due to the 'rona, but due to the unprecedented unrest. What's been going on since March has been truly historic and definitely painful to many.

I can see the battle for individuals rights going on here. It's clear many of us don't want to wear a mask, however, we have this ongoing virus that isn't yet going away. And the main thing many of us are also concerned about our livelihoods, how do we make our income during a pandemic

To make a change

From my experience, however, small making a change is hard. In my case, changing jobs especially if you're the one handing in your two-week notice is a tad scary. It's very easy to give in to a comfort level and stay in one place. It especially easy if you know the environment and what to expect, however, sometimes to take the risk and so something different is what's necessary.

It's been a few years since I've listened to WBBM-AM regularly and I know the voice of Felicia Middlebrooks. To see her open letter on WBBMs website about her decision to leave her position at the radio station gives me some good vibes. Perhaps that letter is for anyone who decides that it's time to do something different and to take steps to move forward.

If I read her letter correctly she''s been with WBBM-AM for 36 years. And at some point she went back to school and got an MBA, she also mentioned she got a degree in film. So that's certainly an indication how committed she is to making a change in her life.

Not to make more of Middlebrooks' change if she spent many years on the radio and made moves to do something different, what's our excuse. Some of us want to do something different and don't know how all it takes is a start.

For me personally I've been desiring to return to school and especially to open up the possibilities as far as jobs for example. All it takes is to make the necessary moves and get started for example going back to school.

As already stated making a change is hard. It's really scary to take a chance and hoping for the best. For those of you who are in that boat as Middlebrooks' I hope for the best for you all! 

Side hustles during a #Pandemic

[VIDEO] Only recently during the course of the history of this blog had I ever tried to monetize this place. I never would've imagined that Google Ads would be placed here and probably would've come in handy during those rare times when this blog received some traffic from a variety of sources. I always considered this place a hobby something to be enjoyed for free, but then again it's something that if one chooses is worth making some money off of.

I've been following Timothy J. Ward for a while especially with another one of his YouTube channels the Frugal Travel Guru. Going somewhere shouldn't cost you a lot of money and just think when I started following that channel he went from talking about tips as far as riding the Greyhound Bus to taking little trips overseas. There are some valuable lessons with that.

Due to unforeseen circumstances of the past two months I'm taking a look at one of his vids from last year declaring this year 2020 as the year of the side hustle. Of course what I have to admit in a time of a great economic downturn perhaps it's hard for many to think of a side hustle. However, as so many have lost their jobs due to this pandemic I wonder how many have turned to another way of earning income.

And no I don't mean OnlyFans, I do mean that many of us have a talent that we haven't utilized that's worth making a small income at least until the economic world stabilized. I'm lucky to still be working right now in this downturn, however, now is the time to figure out for myself other ways to make money. Perhaps that means doing what I've always done since my undergrad years which is creating content people enjoy online.

Besides, perhaps you won't be able to earn a fortune however a lot of eyeballs are on the internet right now with so many people stuck at home with all these shelter in place orders.

If you're reading this blog let me know what your sidehustle is...

Is college worth it?

[VIDEO] I wish I had this advice from Dave Ramsey back in high school. The expectations for many of us whether from our families to even some of the teachers/counselors in school was that we'd go to college. The advice I should've gotten was about planning and then of course having a plan once I got the degree.

What does this mean? What type of job do you plan to have once you graduate? How much money are you willing to spend on college?

With that said over the years, I've had to realize that perhaps we've been going overboard with sending our young people to college. It's an important investment for sure, but again most young people need to plan. I really didn't even if it took me some time to finally finish.

Another thing that I've said is that it seems a college degree has become devalued and taken for granted to the point where it's not just another high school diploma. An undergrad degree once had value, how do we give it value again?

This clip was from a little over three years ago and hopefully parents are discussing college and long term plans with their children who are high school juniors or seniors.

Stossel: The end of tipping?

[VIDEO] I've had people recommend I become a bartender and you know what I say. Usually I would decline and have no inclination to take on such a role anywhere. Perhaps the personality and the customer service is there, but otherwise don't want it. There are other things - say like blogging - that I could do and hopefully become as lucrative.

Today, I share with you John Stossel's vid on the "end of tipping". Around the country including the windy city it has become "chic" to raise the minimum wage. Often what's said is that workers can't live off the minimum wage. There are articles that said if you live on minimum wage you can't even adequately pay your rent anywhere in the USA.

On the one hand I get it, I've worked minimum wage - especially after college. When you think about it, you're not supposed to live off of minimum wage. It's just income you earn to get you started and it's certainly expected that you'll grow beyond that type of job. Learn the ropes of the work world and then move on, at least ideally.

I know why people pursue working at a bar or restaurant (to be a bartender or server for example) you might get paid a minimum wage however you also get tips. I think you get a smaller minimum wage if you have a job where your income are tips. As you see with the woman in the video who is a server, she fills the gap in her wages real quick with tips.

Then it makes me wonder how clueless those who just want to change the minimum wage or any pay for workers about business. Not that I'm so adroit in the ways of business, however, the workers find a way to make ends meet without any progressive promises to even the wage-earning playing field.

McDonald's cashier doesn't equal job security

I remember a few years I believed some erroneous reports that McDonald's was only considering those persons with a college degree for cashier positions at their stores. And now being a McDonald's cashier may not be as stable for a college grad anyway. Especially with the establishment most call Micky D's are installing these self-service ordering kiosks.

Some McDonald's stores in Chicago are seen with these kiosks. I've utilized them on occasion, especially if I don't have the need for human interaction. Not that this is a huge issue anyway the interaction is pretty quick anyway at least speaking for myself.

I've thought about this if having machines do menial jobs is increasingly the trend in the 21st century then here's an opportunity, someone has to maintain the machines. Being a fast food cashier is a job that allows anyone to make money and pay bills, it's not at all a reliable career. And this means one who is in such a role should be looking into future opportunities.

Just because you're a fast food cashier doesn't mean this is where you will remain until retirement!

"Ghosting" at work

To be fair I've seen this done in real life though typically a person just simply ghosts when they don't plan to come in anymore. They're usually very young and often temperamental and likely judging the types of jobs they currently have before moving onto a new one.

Of course if they do this to a minimum wage job who's to say they won't do it to a so-called better job. I know they don't have to say what happened to any of their old jobs - or explain it accordingly somehow - of course I figure this can always come back to bite them in the @S$ in the long run.

In fields ranging from food service to finance, recruiters and hiring managers say a tightening job market and a sustained labor shortage have contributed to a surge in professionals abruptly cutting off contact and turning silent — the type of behavior more often associated with online dating than office life. The practice is prolonging hiring, forcing companies to overhaul their processes and tormenting recruiters, who find themselves under constant pressure. “If you don’t love your job [as a recruiter], you’ll beat your head on your desk,” says John Widgren, a recruiter for Central Florida Health, a more than 3,000-employee health system outside Orlando.

Where once it was companies ignoring job applicants or snubbing candidates after interviews, the world has flipped. Candidates agree to job interviews and fail to show up, never saying more. Some accept jobs, only to not appear for the first day of work, no reason given, of course. Instead of formally quitting, enduring a potentially awkward conversation with a manager, some employees leave and never return. Bosses realize they’ve quit only after a series of unsuccessful attempts to reach them. The hiring process begins anew.

Believe me I've been frustrated with job hunting and once on a job with the processes within a company. I would find it inexcusable to engage in this behavior of ghosting, especially during the interview process, during the on-boarding process, or even on the job. I've worked with people who had little idea about the protocol if you will, perhaps this is what we're dealing with full-employment or not.

While I saw this article over the weekend, it just made Instapundit where Glenn Reynolds even comments: "Sorry, but that’s not cool". Yeah it's not!

#Tucker: Is college worth it?

[VIDEO] I would've liked to have seen this a few years ago. One problem the adults in my family would've just attributed this to youth and still encouraged me to go anyway.

On Tuesday night Tucker Carlson speaks with Issac Morehouse - probably no relation to the namesake of Morehouse College my alma mater lol - who promotes apprenticeships as opposed to college. He states how the need for a college degree to access good jobs is basically a myth.

I wrote about this idea of apprenticeships recently. If only I knew about these opportunities back in high school. It can't be said for me that I graduated with a high school diploma and was ready for the work force.

Forbes: The 10 Worst Reasons To Reject A Job Applicant

Now that we're in the month of May and the weather is finally acting like it, perhaps it's time for a post about jobs. In this case 10 of the worst reasons to reject a job applicant.

This list is for both hiring managers and those looking for jobs. Having been through this recently perhaps this list reminds you to not be discouraged. If you're looking and keep hitting a wall you need all the encouragement you can get!

Apprenticeships

I spent a lot of years promoting college. It was in my head, people thought college was in my future. If I could've told my past self not believe my own hype of the time. I made good grades in high school except that well I felt it was too easy. No disrespect to the Harlan Falcons who deserve a good education just like students in Chicago's selective enrollment schools.

Regardless I wish my generation of high school students had access to apprenticeships. I wouldn't be nitpicky construction, plumbing, business,etc. The one thing I regret about my years in school was that there wasn't enough that taught me valuable real life skills that could translate to a job.

Which is why this Volokh Conspiracy article catches my eye. Of course they go through the history for example in early American history if you decided to just "no call no show" your apprenticeship you can be sent to jail. It costs money to train someone and if you couldn't pay for it, you'd have to stay and work for who you apprenticed with.

The solutions aren't perfect, but the system I knew back in the day was broken then. Perhaps the public sector shouldn't be the only one leading the effort any more than the private sector. However as far as giving young people a head start on their futures we can't have them wedded to going to college which is increasingly a problem! Especially if the cost of a college education is to be paid with student loans.

Forbes: Ten Ways To Build Trust On Your Team

I've aspired during my work career to become a manager and learned what my managers do especially as far as processes and dealing with people. Basically I know what I'd do and also learned what not to do, which certainly includes what I've observed some of my managers doing. With that said, some of those managers never really showed how to build a team.

Yeah you can hire people and onboard them and train them, but in my experiences many have no idea how to work with people. Perhaps no matter what you do that may not go away entirely and one may have work to do with workers who have found their first job. However, this Forbes list shows you how to build your team.

Even if I don't become a manager for an established business these are lessons I could use for any entrepreneurial endeavor for myself down the road. Especially if this tweet written yesterday becomes my reality.

The more I watch #PawnStars the more I just want to open my own business and take some of the same risks they do

— Levois J (@levois) March 25, 2018

Business Insider: 32 high-paying jobs for people who don't like stress

One of those 32 high-paying jobs with low-stress - political scientist. Hey wait I got a degree in political science from Morehouse College. What have I been doing with that degree? Time to find a political scientist job, who's hiring?

Questions to avoid asking at end of job interivew

Most of these I already know for the most part and in some cases I broke some of these rules. I have asked a couple of managers how much is the pay. Certainly asking such a questions before getting the job is in bad taste.

Certainly however, many of these questions are unreal. It's within the realm of possibility that may of these questions are asked by a lot of job seekers. Hopefully they see this list and recognize that this may be a reason they failed to get the position.

Via Newsalert!

The American Dream

I honestly don't know whether or not this should be viewed as sad or otherwise...

Another job hunting anniversary coming up...

We're approaching an anniversary of sorts this month. I noted another anniversary which involved an interview which turned into a bust. To be honest, it frustrated me even in spite of all that happened afterwards. It was a dodged bullet, but it was frustrating because it seemed like a give me and it didn't happen.

Fast forward to two years later and my frustration was less about that opportunity and more about my inability to land a job offer even in several different industries. I'm talking retail, finance, or even entertainment and more frustrating was some interviews were good and still nothing.

Now in 20/20 hindsight perhaps I failed to connect. The interviews where I did get the job typically it seemed they were interested in my education to start. Probably some other aspects too, but basically the signals were there. In some cases the interview went well but it seemed the interviewer was ready to get me out of there with not much of a proper appreciative gesture.

Anyway I had one interview which tickled me and why was because it was unexpected. It was a fail to be honest but only because I didn't get it. I consider that at that point it was time for me to leave the job, but was it in my best interest to remain in that industry for that time. Oh yeah that industry was entertainment - film exhibition movie theaters.

The seminal interview that began that odd streak of rejections was for management and so was this interview. It was not at the start or even midpoint, but at the end as it turned out when I finally did get a job offer.

I never expected to be a candidate to be a manager at another movie theater chain and this would have provided the growth I had been looking for. I basically winged this interview which is truly not the best idea, but it was unusual in that well the folks who I had interviewed with called me from another state. I went into this with interest but I was like wtf. Learned later on that this is what they do so I was semi prepared but not totally.

I gave some good answers to their questions especially one I would like to share and shows where my head was at during that period of time. The question was regarding how would I motivate the workforce. My answer involved rewards knowing that concession revenue is how a theater makes money we want to encourage the workers to consistently upsell and suggestive sell. I never offered any details although in my head this would start with monetary rewards.

I felt as if I connected very well with the interviewers, but with the knowledge they've had of my job back then perhaps I realize my iffiness. While I sort of obsessed over this opportunity, now perhaps I'm glad it didn't happen. It was time to pursue other opportunities and do something different as happened eventually.

The way I see it now, if I was to break back into that business after going in another direction they key now is to do something different. Get the benefit of working in a different setting or organization and even moving up. The next management interview, I'll have some different ideas and perhaps be a better candidate.

In the meanwhile, I can only wait for the right opportunity. The next opportunity to move up and ahead.

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