May 30, 2003

Some rays of sunshine locally?
Posted by deisenhart@bostonworks.com">Douglas Eisenhart at 10:25 AM -

According to this morning's Globe, growth at the national level is still somewhat sluggish:

The United States is still trying to snap out of its economic lethargy. The economy grew a bit faster in the first three months of 2003 than first thought, but the advance was still considered mediocre.

But in a related piece, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce reports that the local news is a little brighter:

The Boston metropolitan economy improved slightly in April as three key sectors posted job gains, while a fourth -- technology -- saw the pace of its job losses slow, according to an index released yesterday by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

Read more. And put a little spring in your step as you mow that soggy lawn this weekend.

...

Dumbing down resumes
Posted by deisenhart@bostonworks.com">Douglas Eisenhart at 10:14 AM -

Economists aren't the only ones wringing their hands over deflation. As the downturn drags on, hiring managers are noticing a different type of deflation -- the kind that shows up on applicants' resumes. With job openings in short supply, and senior positions scarce, many unemployed workers have been trimming back their resumes so they don't appear overqualified for positions, a reversal of the resume-polishing that characterized the boom.

But is dumbing down a resume a smart move?

Read the piece from CareerJournal.

...

Mass. Senate passes workplace smoking ban
Posted by jbutler@bostonworks.com">Jason Butler at 8:39 AM -

The Boston Globe: We may soon be able to breathe a little easier at work.

The state Senate approved a statewide ban last night on smoking in the workplace, a measure that proponents say would improve the health of thousands of employees of bars and restaurants in Massachusetts because they would no longer have to breathe second-hand smoke.

...

 

May 29, 2003

The value of sheepskin
Posted by deisenhart@bostonworks.com">Douglas Eisenhart at 4:46 PM -

Following up on Jason's blog from yesterday, this article from CNN/Money reports on what this year's college grads can look forward to in a down market. Comes complete with nifty chart on expected average starting salaries (sorry, psych majors - geeks still rule).

...

Infusion, plunge, fitness, forecasts, contracts
Posted by deisenhart@bostonworks.com">Douglas Eisenhart at 2:10 PM -

In this week's industry updates on BostonWorks:

BIOTECH - Worcester-based Vitex received a $14.44 million cash infusion to buy more time to market its process of blood purification. Also, is MIT sicentist Robert Langer the smartest man in Boston? More Biotech news.

EDUCATION - college student loan interest rates are set to plunge. More Education news.

HEALTHCARE - a new Mass. Department of Public Health study links health and economic fitness. More Healthcare news.

RETAIL - a positive report: Wal-Mart and Penney's met their sales forecasts for May, both up. More Retail news.

And the GOOD NEWS STORY OF THE WEEK: Raytheon and partner Washington Group land a $466m deal from the US Department of Energy. More Tech news.

Read all this week's industry updates.

...

XML formatted resumes
Posted by jbutler@bostonworks.com">Jason Butler at 9:25 AM -

Here's one from O'Reilly for all you geeks out there: Using XML/XLST to craft different resumes for different positions.

At the time my résumé is generated, I can specify (depending on the position I'm seeking) to output information on the books covering XPath, or just the one which covers XSLT, or just the one which covers XPointer...all by telling the XRL transformation to attend just to the corresponding targets attribute values. If, on the other hand, I limited the output just to targets attributes with a value of XML , then neither of those two books' information would appear.

Yeah, what he said...

Jargon aside, it's a very good idea to craft specialized resumes for different positions. You might be able to get away with cutting and pasting, though, as opposed to writing your own resume-o-matic program.

...

Ban the bcc:
Posted by jbutler@bostonworks.com">Jason Butler at 9:22 AM -

Excellent article in the Wall Street Journal about CC and BCC madness in emails.

As e-mail overload buries computer users world-wide, much of the blame is falling on the cc line, which allows e-mailers to share correspondence with countless colleagues, friends or strangers. For e-mail writers who play office politics, deciding which recipients belong on which lines -- "to," "cc," or "bcc" (blind carbon copy) -- has become a daily struggle. Many resort to unnecessary cc-ing and sneaky bcc-ing, inadvertently spilling proprietary information, or inappropriately copying an underling or boss.

...

How to prompt employers to read your resume
Posted by jbutler@bostonworks.com">Jason Butler at 9:21 AM -

CareerJournal gives some hints on making your resume scan-friendly.

When your resume moves to the top, the scanner will give it a brief look -- perhaps for 10 to 15 seconds -- for anything that piques his or her interest. This is your one chance to make an impression. Does your resume include a statement about your background that's so powerful that it transforms your initial scan into a lengthy look?

...

 

May 28, 2003

Gnawing at the quality of life in Massachusetts
Posted by dwong@bostonworks.com">Dean Wong at 10:37 AM -

There's no doubt that New England is a great area to live, especially at this time of the year, but money -- or the lack there of -- followed by high living and housing costs, taxes and college tuition costs are among the top issues chewing away at Massachusetts' residents quality of life, according to a recent survey reported on Page 1 of today's Globe.

''People are telling us it's a good quality of life, but they see it slipping away from themselves and their children,'' said Larry Hugick, vice president and director of media and political surveys for New Jersey-based Princeton Survey Research, which conducted the poll for MassINC.

...

In tough times, graduates slink back home
Posted by jbutler@bostonworks.com">Jason Butler at 9:25 AM -

The New York Times reports on the plight of new college graduates moving back in with their parents.

"Moving back home was the one thing I said I would never do," Meghan Butler, a December graduate of Southwest Texas State University, in San Marcos, told me in an e-mail conversation. "However, I graduated into one of the most undesirable job markets in recent history and found moving home to be the most cost-efficient option."

One new graduate is taking a novel approach:

"Here's how it works," he writes on his Web site, jobsforjohn.com. "You send me information on a job in upstate New York that isn't posted in a major job bank. If the job looks good, I'll apply. If I get a good offer and take the job — YOU WIN A FREE CRUISE, or $500 — as a thank you gift."

...

Workers can sue states over leave
Posted by jbutler@bostonworks.com">Jason Butler at 9:24 AM -

Supreme Court: States must grant family leave.

The Supreme Court ruled today that states can be sued for violating their employees' federally guaranteed right to take time off for family emergencies.

...

The rules on bosses' pay seem to be written with pencil
Posted by jbutler@bostonworks.com">Jason Butler at 9:23 AM -

Gretchen Morgenson in the New York Times discusses how, when senior executives don't reach their financial goals, the goals are adjusted downward.

"For top levels of senior management in companies such as this, at least 90 percent of any bonus should be based on hard financial targets," said Paul Hodgson, a senior research associate at the Corporate Library, a research group. "And if they are set at the beginning of the year and those targets are not reached, there is absolutely no excuse for the company to adjust targets downward in order to ensure compensation for executives."

...

 

May 27, 2003

Start me up, older job seekers, more
Posted by deisenhart@bostonworks.com">Douglas Eisenhart at 10:00 AM -

From this week's BostonWorks in the Boston Sunday Globe:

The lead feature profiles self-starters in a down economy, showing how several have made it when jobs are scarce by creating their own work.

From our weekly round-up of employment stats and trends, "Out in the Field," a new DBM survey finds a disparity in length of job search by age group.

On a related note, this week's Job Doc says that experience plus up-to-date skills can give older job seekers an edge.

Read all this week's BostonWorks stories from the Boston Sunday Globe.

...