Andy Parkinson’s World

Every week I check dozens of “career’ blogs and other online publications, looking for things that will help you find a job, get promoted, develop your skills, and keep everything in perspective and balance. Here’s the pick of the lot for this week. I’m pointing you to items about starting a business from home, early warning signs, relocation, school and work, and the current job market.

From Tom Heath at the Washington Post: A High-Stress Hustle for At-Home Entrepreneurs
“When I have a bad workday and am stressed out, I dream about owning my own business.”

Wally’s Comment: This is a great piece. If you’re thinking about starting a business, read this to see how hard it can be. But notice also that the people in this story seem to be doing ok with the stress. Running your own business is hard work and long hours. Multiply that by a big number for the time when you’re starting up. But if it’s for you, you won’t be happy with anything else.

From Great Leadership: Head’s Up – You’re About to be Promoted or Fired
“When you work in talent management inside an organization, you often have advance information about which managers are going to be promoted and who’s about to be fired. Maintaining confidentiality is critical; as is being able to hold a poker face when people are speculating. Unfortunately, people don’t always know why they were promoted or fired. There are times I’d love to be able to just spill the beans, and let the person know ahead of time, and tell them why. If I could, the script would probably be about the same for each scenario.”

Wally’s Comment: Dan McCarthy lays out the early warning signs of getting promoted and getting fired. Funny, they look like mirror images of each other.

From the Wall Street Journal: Advice on Going Where Jobs Are
“Before deciding to relocate, career counselors advise workers to make sure they fully understand the local economy they’re going to, and what they’d do if the new job doesn’t work out as planned.”

Wally’s Comment: Relocation deserves a lot of thought and research. If things don’t work out you could be stuck far from your most important support group and out of pocket to boot. Read this piece and the one from Evil HR Lady that we linked to last week.

From CNN/CareerBuilder: Work and class can mean better careers
“In a CareerBuilder survey of more than 8,000 workers, 21 percent said they were going to school to make themselves more viable for employers. Of that group surveyed in March, 7 percent go to school full time, 3 percent attend part time and 5 percent take classes online. Have you toyed with the idea of going back to school, but didn’t think you could? Here are 10 stories from workers who thought they didn’t have time for school and how they made it work.”

Wally’s Comment: The way my life played out, I had to go to school while I worked full time in a demanding “fast-track” job. I resented the fact that I didn’t have the option to just go to school, like many of my friends. That was, until I realized that studying and applying lessons right away was a great educational and career experience.

From Peter Weddles posting at Gradversity: Being Out of Whack
“Today’s job market is unlike any we’ve ever seen before. It is, by any standard, horribly out-of-whack. Historically, there have been about 1.3 candidates for every opening in the workplace. Today, there are more than 5 candidates for each vacancy. In the past, this whacky situation would have disappeared with an economic recovery. That won’t happen this time.”

Wally’s Comment: Here’s a sober but realistic view of today’s current job market and how things may look in the near future.