February 24, 2006

Best companies to work for
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 12:43 PM

Looking for a suitable employer? Then you may want to take a look at Fortune magazine's 2006 list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For.

Here's a sample Boston company from the list, #11, Boston Consulting Group:

What makes it so great? Knowledge really is power. Arrive at this management consultant with a B.A. degree, and the firm will send you to a top institution for an MBA, pick up the tuition bill, and double your salary if you agree to stay on.

Check out the full list on CNNMoney.com.

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February 23, 2006

Reading between the (email) lines
Posted by at 4:36 PM

Following on from Doug Eisenhart's entry about the perils of email communication, particularly as it relates to the job search, this article from abcnews.com makes the point that we're not as adept at reading emotions in electronic communications as we think.

In reality most people are often sending and receiving mixed signals in their electronic communications, according to new research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

"We've known for a long time that when we design our speech, we do so egocentrically," said Justin Kruger, one of the paper's authors and an associate professor at NYU. "We imagine how our utterances will sound from the vantage point, essentially, of ourselves.

"We assume that if we understand what we're saying, the person on the other end of our communication will as well."

But studies show that's not always the case.

Though text-based communication has been around for millenia, e-mail and instant message are still evolving, so be warned that there may be a few bruised egos and unnecessary tiffs to deal with along the way.

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February 22, 2006

Jobapalooza today!
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 8:50 AM

I don't often shill for our BostonWorks events in this space, but today is a unique opportunity for all you college kids out there facing the real world in a couple months, or even needing a summer internship.

It's Jobapalooza day at the State House from 1-6 pm. Come meet real live recruiters from 20 different companies, all there to meet with you. When you're not out selling yourself, take a load off and soak up some expert career advice at our Job Hunt Info Sessions, including a panel of four former local students who recently made the leap from campus to career.

Not sure what to wear, what to bring, or just generally clueless on job fairs? Start here with the transcript of yesterday's live chat on how to make the most of a job fair, or listen to our podcast tips.

Oh, yeah - did I mention that it's all free? Yup. So come on down. Honestly, we won't bite - we're friendly! See you there.

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Voice-mail manners
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 8:29 AM

Here's some helpful advice about voice-mail etiquette in the business world:

[Corporate communications consultant Margo Carmichael] Lester and other business owners say the answer is to know before you pick up the phone what you're going to say if you end up leaving a message. Lester also said a good message has the most critical information at the very start, including name and phone number -- that way, if the recipient replays the message, they won't have to listen to the end for a contact number.

Job seekers can take some cues from this as they frequently run into voice-mail when on the job hunt trail:

> If you get voice-mail, be prepared. Identify yourself, state the reason for your call - "I'm following up on the resume I forwarded to you last week" - and keep it brief, light, and leave your contact information.

> Often it's wise to offer that you will call back again anyway (the onus is on you, not the swamped recruiter, to advance your candidacy).

> Save the substantive stuff for the real-time conversation, whether on the phone or face-to-face.

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February 16, 2006

Caution: e-mail can be hazardous to your career
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 8:41 AM

A cautionary tale from today's Globe tells of a testy e-mail exchange between a job candidate and a prospective employer that spun out of control and wound up on the Internet, and now on the front page of the newspaper.

Here's what transpired:

Korman was miffed that Abdala notified him by e-mail this month that, after tentatively agreeing to work at his law firm, she changed her mind. Her reason: "The pay you are offering would neither fulfill me nor support the lifestyle I am living."

In his e-mail reply, Korman told Abdala that her decision not to have told him in person "smacks of immaturity and is quite unprofessional," and noted that in anticipation of her arrival, he had ordered stationery and business cards for her, reformatted a computer, and set up an e-mail account. Nevertheless, he wrote, "I sincerely wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors."

Her curt retort: "A real lawyer would have put the contract into writing and not exercised any such reliance until he did so."

There's more, but for our purposes the moral of the story is this: think twice before typing - or sending - that emotion-packed e-mail. We've all been there. Better to take a deep breath, let it pass, and keep those thoughts to yourself (or rephrase them more diplomatically). Once sent they are out of your hands and may wind up somewhere - and everywhere - you did not intend.

Moral of the story #2: needless to say, since this happens to be a recruitment story, one should never leave a trail of ill will behind after a job interview or hiring situation. While both sides' behavior would seem to be at fault here, as the job seeker you should be sure to thank the parties involved and leave on good terms and in good taste. Your reputation is the single most important asset you have, and once compromised, it is difficult to impossible to repair.

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February 15, 2006

Now hiring - women in politics
Posted by Diane Danielson at 9:09 PM

Looking for a new career? Eileen McNamara's column today looks at the lack of women in Massachusetts politics:

Figuring out why women are so scarce in the corridors of power is neither a new challenge nor one confined to Massachusetts, of course. Simmons College is holding a conference next month on the national underrepresentation of women in politics. What is curious here is that after a period of slow, incremental gains -- in 1987, only 18 percent of the Legislature was female -- progress has stalled.

Part of the problem, Mattison suspects, is that men tend to run for public office earlier in life and then enjoy incumbents' overwhelming odds of reelection. Women often wait until their children are grown to launch political careers, a strategy that leaves less time to build seniority and exercise the clout needed to accomplish much.

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Are you a happier commuter?
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 2:10 PM

Wow, can it be true? The Big Dig actually works?!

It may have taken awhile to get there - about 15 years in the building, far longer in the planning and funding - but according to today's Globe, commute times for workers in Greater Boston are way down with the Big Dig now close to fully operational:

The $14.6-billion Big Dig project has cut the average trip through the center of Boston from 19.5 minutes to 2.8 minutes and has increased by 800,000 the number of people in Eastern Massachusetts who can now get to Logan International Airport in 40 minutes or less, according to a report that is scheduled to be released today.

Not only that, but. . .

The report projects that the highway improvements will attract $7 billion in private investment, adding more than 43,000 jobs along the I-93 corridor and in the South Boston Seaport District.

What do you think? Tell us: has your commute gotten any better since the Big Dig?

While you're at it, take advantage of another exclusive BostonWorks.com feature and browse our 23,000 job openings by commuting route.

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Romney and jobs, part 2
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 1:54 PM

Last month over in the HR Blog I posed a question: has Governor Romney been good or bad for jobs in the Commonwealth?

Today I ask the same question - and Globe columnist Steve Bailey already knows his answer:

Since January 2003, when Romney took office, through the end of last year Massachusetts ranked 46th in job growth, up just 1.1 percent, according to Global Insight, an economic consulting firm. Nationally employment grew 2.8 percent. Massachusetts topped only Louisiana and Mississippi, which got crushed by Hurricane Katrina, and Michigan and Ohio, which got crushed by the decline of manufacturing.

Let us know your view - thumbs up or down? - on our messaage board.

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February 9, 2006

Will working overseas hurt your chances back home?
Posted by Jason Butler at 6:22 AM

Here is an extremely interesting question over at Ask Metafilter about whether working overseas will affect your ability to build a career in America.

I moved to Japan where I currently live to teach English. My issue is that teaching isn't really a career I want for a long time, it was more just an excuse to live abroad and travel. There's still so much more I want to do after this program ends...backpack around South America? ...work in a cafe in Greece? ...who knows, even working on a farm in Australia? But, will a a couple more years of this kind of employment hurt me when I get back to America? If it will, is there anything I can do to enhance it so that I can continue working abroad while furthering my professional skills?

The answers are well worth reading. I spent a while teaching overseas, and I found that employers here (at least at the New York Times Company) were impressed by the experience.

Can you tell which one is me?

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February 8, 2006

Leaving on good terms?
Posted by Douglas Eisenhart at 4:05 PM

Readers of today's Globe will have seen a full page message taken by an individual saying farewell as he leaves his job - and the city.

The individual? Johnny Damon. You know the job. The message:

The ad, which ran inside the sports section of The Boston Globe on Wednesday, reads, "Many thanks to the great fans of New England and the city of Boston. It was a privilege and an honor."

The message, displayed in the form of a letter with Damon's signature, is superimposed over a photo of the Red Sox' former leadoff hitter in action.

Rubbing salt in the wounds? Perhaps. But I think it was a classy move nonetheless. Damon never had a beef with the fans, his most loyal and vocal supporters. Ultimately it was the team he did not come to terms with, and Big Bad George was only too eager to scoop him up.

On second thought, maybe it's a pre-emptive defensive move by the man who now hangs his hat in the Bronx. Come May 1, I just don't think it's gonna be a lot of fun out there in center field at Fenway in the bottom of the first.

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February 7, 2006

E-mailing at work
Posted by Jason Tuohey at 11:15 AM

Most people I know think nothing about giving out their work e-mail address, and using it for personal communication. In an era of increased scrutiny of technology use at work, is this a smart move? A Concord company doesn't seem to think so. The firm, InBoxer inc., uses examples from Enron employees to trumpet its e-mail security system (registration required). The e-mails cover everything from paper-shredding jokes to correspondence of a more, um, sophisticated nature. Is there a lesson here? From the article:

"While it's unlikely your company's e-mails will be posted on a website, it's not unlikely someone in your firm regularly scans e-mails. It's also possible your messages could become public record in a lawsuit unrelated to you."

Maybe you should think twice before forwarding the next dirty joke or Paris Hilton photo to your buddies.

Should you be able to send personal e-mail at work? Sound off on our message boards.

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Budget cuts hit home
Posted by Jason Tuohey at 11:00 AM

President Bush's recent budget cuts promise to skewer social spending in Massachusetts, according to a Globe report today. The move is bad news for social workers, health care professionals, and teachers all over the state. Here are the specifics from the article:

"Bush's plan, which cuts social programs to preserve deficit targets while raising military spending, would cost Massachusetts schools more than $20 million in vocational education grants...

Meanwhile, cuts in Medicare payments would result in the loss of $213 million in reimbursements for Massachusetts hospitals over five years, according to legislators and budget documents."

In addition, the cuts are causing delays in 10 local construction projects, raising the possibility that construction workers may find their jobs affected as well.

"Responding to a 20 percent cut in federal funds for road and bridge work, the Boston area planners said they are urging delays in some $13 million in projects in Greater Boston."

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Work life issues not just for working mothers
Posted by Diane Danielson at 8:24 AM

Cali Yost of Work+Life Fit, Inc. has a new blog and talks about how work+life is not just a working mother issue.

Reading these [BlackBerry potential shut-down] articles I couldn’t help wondering how many other people (including the subjects themselves) even noticed the work+life “fit” dimension of these stories. Why? Because most people still believe that managing work and life is primarily an issue limited to working mothers, and certainly not one that applies to senior male executives. This is a holdover from a time when working mothers in many ways led the charge for greater flexibility out of sheer necessity. But, the personal stories in the Blackberry articles prove that this challenge of managing work and the rest of life, especially in today’s 24/7 world, is experienced across levels and demographic groups. In other words, our choices may be different, our challenges may be unique, but the conversation about how to manage work life transitions, both big and small, is the same.

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Move over Working Mother; BusinessWeek is getting in on the action
Posted by Diane Danielson at 7:59 AM

BusinessWeek just launched their new "Working Parents" blog. From Toddi Gutner's musing on the need for a Working Father magazine.

It reminds me of chat I had with Gloria Steinem a few years ago when I asked her how she felt about the state of women in the workplace. I was surprised at the time by her answer. She said that until professional men feel comfortable to express their need for a work/life balance, as women have begun to do, then they are unable to contribute more at home even if they might want to. Time for a working dad's magazine?

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February 6, 2006

The company with the best manners wins
Posted by at 9:58 AM

We've heard the stories about job seekers who, after a series of grueling onsite interviews complete with testing and simulations, never hear back from a company. But how about the companies that ace the course on etiquette and follow-up? Do they exist? Liz Ryan, the author of this Business Week article, serves up a challenge to readers.

As an HR person for 25 years now, I'm tired of having to apologize for my profession. Yet I don't find the criticism of me and my colleagues misplaced. It's depressing at times to answer scores of e-mails from job-holders who share stories of bureaucratic, officious, even hateful treatment at the hands of their company's human-resources staff. But as poorly as many HR departments treat employees, their dealings with prospective hires are 1,000 times worse.

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So here's my offer to the readers of BW Online. If you write to tell me about a company that treats job candidates well, I'll mention your story in a column. (You can't work in the company's PR or HR departments, though). I'm especially interested in innovative ways that companies use to connect with prospective employees and to keep in touch with them, or otherwise send them vibes any warmer than a frozen turkey... Send your stories of ground-breaking and innovative recruiting processes (ones that befriend job-seekers instead of alienating them) to me at lizryan@worldwit.org.

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The Cluetrain of presenting
Posted by Jason Butler at 6:27 AM

I've been a Cluetrain fan since it started in the late nineties. It's shaped my thinking about how the web works, and it continues to shape how we design our applications here at Boston.com and BostonWorks.

Now, Presentation Zen applies the Cluetrain concepts to presentations. This is a good read for anyone who has to give presentations as part of their work routine.

(2) "Conversations among human beings sound human. They are conducted in a human voice." I don't hate politicians and I don't hate marketers...but I hate the way they talk. "Mission-critical, forward-looking value propositions...." People do not talk that way! Many corporate speakers have a special gift for the "blah-blah-blah." Is anyone listening? Speeches and presentation do not have to be be stuffy and dull, but neither do they need to be hyped-up and shallow — your audience is praying you'll be different.

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February 3, 2006

Battling bullies
Posted by Jason Tuohey at 2:25 PM

One workplace issue that seldom sees the light of day is that of bullying. Abusive bosses and abrasive coworkers can make one's job miserable. I dug up a Cleveland Plain Dealer article, courtesy of The Work Doctor, which publicizes these facts:

"About one worker in six is bullied in any given year.

A woman is the target in eight of every 10 cases.

In six of 10 cases, a woman is the bully.

Seven times out of 10, the bully outranks the target."

There are no easy solutions to bullying. Even if it is reported, the incident may become a "he said, she said" argument between the bully and bullied. Similarly, taking such a case to court will most likely prove fruitless. And in addition, as the article notes, bullying is technically legal, as long as the bully isn't physically assaulting someone or showering them with abuse because of their race or gender.

What can you do if you're being bullied at work, aside from grinning, bearing it? You've got two options, according to the article:

"Workers who want to stand up to the bully have two choices. They can pin their hopes for justice on a company's grievance procedure. Or they can go outside normal channels by documenting a pattern of bully behavior and presenting it directly to someone who ranks higher in the company than the bully's boss...Both paths are fraught with danger."

As unfair as it sounds, the best route may be to simply start checking the help wanted ads for a new job.

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February 1, 2006

The joy of the 8' whiteboard
Posted by Jason Butler at 4:04 PM

I love it when I'm able to be more productive at work. I just got an 8' whiteboard for my office, and all is well with the world. The right tools -- and in product development, few tools are more "right" than a good whiteboard -- can make all the difference. I can have meetings in which we all huddle in its bright-white glory. It makes me happy. It makes my team happy.

And, when we build out what we've just drawn, it will make BostonWorks visitors very happy.

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