Monday, October 18, 2010

Diversification

The financial advisers who keep on talking with people how to invest their money in 401ks and other investment vehicles always emphasize that we should have a diversified portfolio and we should have save enough money in case of emergency but I have not heard anyone saying that do they have a back up plan in case of unemployment (other than saving and sending out resumes). Most of us indeed do not have a plan B working in case we get laid off and we are living pay check to pay check and believe me it is no fun (been there, done that).

Most of the people just pray that they do not get laid off and if they do then they should be able to job fast enough so that the bills not pile up. But if praying can work without doing something to make it happen then what is the use of praying. A plan of action is lacking in overwhelming majority of households and even with this economy it is no surprise that again there is no plan B like two jobs in case you lose one you can count on the other one or just plain having a small sole proprietorship in place that you can at least be able to pay your bills. It is easy to advise on diversification in your investment portfolio when you are putting in money because of your job but how about having a back job at night or on the weekends and paying the bills out of that. You will need it since the precarious economic situation of our nation will extend by the age limit to 70 or more by the time we collect our social security checks (if we collect it in lesser value dollars).

A Nuclear-Weapons Free World?

Idealistic people are trying to get rid of the world of nuclear weapons and pressurizing the developed countries in the process but are it realistic to assume that if the nuclear armed countries go cold turkey, the rest of the hot spots with nuclear weapons would do the same. It is hard to be realistic because it is painful. Israel has undeclared nuclear weapons and Iran is pursuing them vigorously. Do you ever believe that Pakistan is going to give up nuclear weapons in the face of the more powerful India with bigger armed forces?

And then there is the case of North Korea, which still refuses to give up its nuclear arsenal and keeps on threatening the Korean Peninsula. Do you ever think that if the five declared nuclear powers give up their weapons that peace will break out instantly? Pakistan and North Korea are in a desperate situation and will not give up their nukes until everybody else (including India and Israel does) but even then they won’t give up because that is how they maintain their minimum deterrence against much larger foes. So unless we go back to some primitive time, the world is still going to be awash in nuclear weapons no matter what the declared intentions are on the contrary.

The resilience of the human spirit

The Chilean mine disaster that was going on the last two months came to close a few days ago with the rescue of all the 33 miners trapped underground for more than two months. It is the endurance of the human spirit that they were able to survive for such a long time underground. Although the details of the ordeal have started to emerge, it was not all tranquil down there, and it was to be expected. Any person who is healthy enough trapped for such a long period of time, will have some issues when rescued, but overall the dramatic rescue mission captured on the media screen and beamed around the world was itself a miracle.

What it shows you here is that once you have that human determination and will to survive and your time is not up, you can stand up to the elements of nature and endure. For me personally, I would not have been working in the mines anyway but if I were I don’t think so that I would be able to survive in that claustrophobic environment, but maybe I would have if I would have seen what is ahead of me in the future. Anyway I salute the miners for enduring such a long time trapped underground and also the rescuers for taking out all of them alive.

Are Green jobs the answer to unemployment?

For quite some time, we have been hearing about how the green jobs are the next big jobs thing and that the America can benefit from largely since we will become pioneer in doing this first. But as with all the other things, we were the pioneer but the prohibitive cost of doing business has become clear when a news report came out the Chinese, with the enormous economies of scale, huge government subsidies and their clear intentions to dominate the market in the future have made the green jobs market their number one priority. In this case, the solar panels that they are making have become installing in the United States; even though some companies here are also making it but the expensive labor and cost realities have led them to outsource their work to China.

We can still make progressive in this case, but to put too much emphasis on it without realizing that we are not the only player in town will help tremendously and government subsidies would not hurt either. We need to set our priorities straight and know where we need to invest and where we need to pull back and let others do what they do best and benefit from it. Green jobs are not going to come overnight and transform our economy right away. In addition to green jobs, we need to put more manufacturing jobs here with less regulation and red tape and more incentives so there is a balance between high tech and the traditional manufacturing jobs.

Post retirement living

A new report came out stating that most of our senior citizens are depending heavily on social security for their retirement benefits. Although it was not meant to be an end all to depend on it for your retirement needs but now it has become so due to the investment losses sustained by our retirees in this recession. Although they did what the experts said they should do but nobody knows about the future and so it happened that they lost a bundle in addition to losing their equity in their houses and lost savings. This just shows that savings is a very important vehicle in your life.

Most of the savings is not lost were used to help their off springs wither the effects of this recession since the younger lot have also been greatly affected by it and in the process the older generation have forget or forced to live on meager savings and social security benefits. Due to this, most of the retirees have come out of their retirement and are working on minimum wages (which you can see all over the place) and in some cases the people who are near retirement or thought so have postponed it till they get a grip on their savings. In these cases, most of the experts are at a loss of how to get the young people to start saving for retirement when you are under student loans and other debts and do not see yourself as fortunate as your folks, who saved enough. It is time now to change the thinking and start put cash in your savings account in banks and also if you have extra money to invest in real estate and don’t completely rely on social security.

Hard to swallow the realities.

My topic here is that most Americans have living in denial regarding the realities that they are facing in terms of housing crisis, their retirement and the future of this country without facing hard and painful choices. Right now we are able to influence policies around the world due to our economic might but it may not be that long that we would find it hard to do it due to our massive debt, our unilateral wars and our shrinking manufacturing base. Due to this economy, we have started to become more selective in hiring people and that has started to exclude our most experienced people of age 50 and above.

Our retirement funds have been decimated due to this recession and we are being forced to work till we die. There are always dire predictions that the entitlements that we enjoy right now like social security, Medicare and Medicaid would be very hard to fund since we are not generating enough revenue inside our country and we have to borrow in order to fund our daily spending. Will this going to last longer as nobody can lend us without asking huge interest rates in return. Can’t we just face the truth and see that we are in deep trouble and the politician or the people in power have failed to show us the stark choices we will face in the future. We can still take charge of our destiny if we can elect straight in your face politicians rather than the ones who avoid or roll down the realities down the road due to votes. Even if you call yourself American, does it mean that you are a patriot if you are not going to tell people that this is what it is and we have to tackle are problems? Parents do that all the time and besides loving there comes a time when you have to put your foot down and show the right direction. If only we can face the realities of the new world and align our priorities with it.

The continuing foreclosure crisis

Since the housing market collapsed, there has been this foreclosure crisis going on. But there has been another twist to this mess, being that some of the foreclosure documents were signed by people who did not even read the documents and just processed it as fast as they can. It may be that they may not be as much experienced, or they may be under pressure to sign as much foreclosures as possible or that the government was pushing on the lenders to expedite the process of saving peoples houses and due to that the pressure was on the banks to bypass and in some cases to ignore relevant rules or take their time to review the documents.

What ever may be the case, some body said it right that the foreclosure starts when you stop paying your mortgage. I am not saying that there may be a mess in expediting the foreclosure process and there may be dubious elements in the lending industry that wanted to take over people’s houses. But the recent moratorium by the banks on foreclosure will only delay the inevitable that some (or maybe most) people will lose their homes. It may also be due to because the administration wanted to save peoples houses and they kept on coming out with guidelines which were half baked and in steps and the pressure they were putting on the lenders made to this mess. Any which way you want to see it; it is sure going to a long and painful road to recovery which is not going to end soon. Stay tuned.

Friday, October 15, 2010

The coming big paralysis

If the polls that are coming out are true and reflective of the feelings of the American public then come November this year, we would see a paralysis in Washington which would not be pretty and it could last as long as the next Presidential election. Since the Republican Party seems poised to win big in both the house and the senate elections expect them to block almost every initiative the President throws at them and if the congress pass any bill that the President has opposed there would be threats of veto and a gridlock.

So although the Republican Party (and by its extension the tea party) may glow in the victorious glory that they will do this and do that and would restore the small government and a “sense” to the government in Washington. It will be more of the same as the big agenda of the Republican Party will clash with the Washington realities and then nothing will seem to happen until the next Presidential election. This may be because of the different priorities of the two parties and even now when the democrats are in control of both the houses of congress and the Executive branch, they are having a hard time trying to have a bipartisan support; you can just imagine how the Republican Party will fare in such a scenario.

The story of entrepreneurial spirit

Recently I read a story about how one of the e-commerce companies (Diaper.com) came to be the biggest in what they do nationally. And with all great companies, it started in a home garage and with minimal amount of investment. It just goes to show you that you only need a vision and some creative ideas to start your own company. These people started with buying stuff from wholesale clubs and sending it out right away while they got rejected by a big manufacture but due to their growth in company were eventually give an account access by that manufacturer and the rest is history. It was just a simple idea selling baby diapers. Who knew that even with that simple product, you can make millions. This year they would be sending out their 500 millionth diapers out.

In addition to the success of the above mentioned company, they have also started Soap.com which specializes in household and personal care products. And imagine all of this started in a garage. Although I know that now everybody can do it or wants to do it or should do it. My point here is that you can do it if you feel down on your luck, the amount of work that you put in finding a job and working in an office (sometimes in excess of 60 hours) could be utilized in developing some idea and then working it out from there, you never know what could happen.

Constant updates on the Internet

The best thing I like about the internet besides others is the constant update of news and anything that is happening right now in the world. I don’t have to wait for a newspaper in the morning to know what happened twelve hours ago since that will be old news by the time it reaches me. That is why you can see that many of the companies have ditched their paper catalogues for the internet, since they can give up to date listings of their inventory or let the latest prices reflected without the added cost of printing, ink and mailing.

Besides creating jobs and destroying some in the process, the constant update and the vast array of up to date knowledge about everything imaginable (good or bad) makes internet the thing to be here. Without the updates we would have to contact our families to find out what is happening in their lives (via social networks) and need to contact our brokers and other professionals for our financial and physical health. Internet keeps you up date about the addresses of professional people and make it affordable even for small business with tiny budgets to showcase their services and products and constantly up date it to reflect what they have done right that instant. And that is hard to beat with old technology like publications.

Breast Cancer awareness Month

As everybody knows by now, this is the breast awareness month and every thing is being done in pink to support it. Most of the companies are bring out their traditional products in pink color to highlight this month’s message. There are even some companies who are in order to promote their product are urging people to buy their product and in return they would donate a portion of the selling price to the breast cancer research/ foundation.

As far as I know this breast cancer awareness month is one of the most recognizable in the world and much money has been spent on it to find a cure but still there is a lot to be done. Although we hear about the survival stories of women battling cancer and conquering it but for every one of the more prominent stories, there are obscure ones that get lost since they are not there to say they have lost their battle. My cousin also died of breast cancer although we don’t have a history of breast cancer in our family and she was in the advance stages and did not have a chance to fight the battle much longer. All I am saying here is that women (mostly) should get a mammogram each year after 40 so that they should be able to catch anything that seems suspicions. There is no other way but to be vigilant about what is happening to your body.

Hair Cutting/ Dressing

When I was in college (I am now too) I use to going to a barber on a semester basis but now since I am also looking for a job that is not feasible anymore. Long hair to be fair does not look good on men but it does on women. Going to barber is not fun but getting your hair done is. If you are going to your regular barber, that is no problem, since he or she would know how to cut your hair but if it is a first time going to a new barber, then it is a whole different story. I usually try the older ones since they are more experienced.

Once you tell the barber how you want your hair to be cut, then you are in a sort of military training camp. You are under his (or her) control and you have to do exactly what he (or she) tells you to do if you want your hair to be done right. Any sudden movement and you risk either losing too much hair or your style or even hurting yourself since the barber deals with sharp objects like scissors, razors and the like. The best part comes when the barber sprays water on your hair to make it damp or just to give you a comb. Some people also wants their nose or ear hair cut and also some beard or mustache done (in the case of men). But if you are a woman then there are several styles that you can do your hair with since women have longer hairs and also their cutting/styling costs more than men. Then there is the hair dressing of little kids and that is a whole different story because if they are really infant then the constant screaming and making them sit still is a big issue and if they are a little big than they don’t want to get a hair cut to begin with.

Overconsumption in America

America has been a nation of consumers for a long time now and sometimes this consumption goes to overdrive just because we can afford it or put it on plastic. But due to this overconsumption, we have become a nation of debtors to the world. We buy on impulse and the sales that look great tempt people to buy stuff that they do not want or need. Even sometimes when some of us are sad, in order to cheer ourselves or just want to forget some painful moment in our lives, we go out and buy stuff and then don’t even us it.

Consumption can be good in the sense that it employs people and our economy grows but excess of everything is bad and that what happens with consumption too. Then there are these wholesale clubs where in order to save some money we buy stuff that are in bulk but sometimes ends in wastage because of expiry dates or not needing it anymore. Then I hear that women and men buy shoes and clothes for every occasion that they never wear and it is also a waste of money. All this not only results in waste but it shows that we over consume resulting in our huge debt in terms of credit card bills and our national debt. This debt never goes down due to our consumption and the interest that it accumulates every second. We need to stop this over consumption unless it consumes and take over our lives (which it does for some in more than one way).

Training while studying

Furthermore on the topic of training, I would like to add this that there should be training while you are in college. Since in this day and age, experience counts as much as college education there should be increasing emphasis on courses where the colleges can partner with industries to let their students get training while applying their education. I cannot emphasize this much more as I am also a student and there is that woeful inadequacy when you graduate and you have to compete with people who have more experience than you.

I have the theoretical knowhow of the education I am getting, but the employers increasing need employees who have some practical experience in applying that knowledge and that is where the colleges come up short. They leave it to the individual to find the jobs mostly for the financial reasons and when you are at least senior then they start to help you out but in the meanwhile the students who have the resources go out and are already working in their chosen fields have the clear advantage over the book smart people. I really clearly want colleges to assist and help students who have chosen their desired major to find internships and jobs for them and also for the sophomores who want to decide on their majors so that they are not clueless of what they want to do when they graduate and then there can be less of a mismatch of skills that are so much of a problem right now in the jobs market.

No mood for training

As the recession deepens (who says it is finished!) so is the pool of applicants which is widening that is why the companies are in no mood to take raw talent and train them according to their corporate culture and skills. They would rather have somebody else do the heavy loading and then give the job hunters a few extra thousands and lure them away from their jobs. This is a dangerous trend, but the fact is that it is also the applicants’ fault that they are being led into this type of trap. If anybody is not trained to do a certain jobs but have the theoretical skills to accomplish, would that person be able to get hired.

I have seen numerous times now that even entry level position entails at some kinds of experience. As I have told countless times before, somebody has to “bell the cat” but nobody wants to spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours in training somebody when somebody with those relevant skills can come in and have the jobs. The employers are in an envious position right now. Just because the skills do not match and the employers are not willing to invest in their human resources means that the unemployment will remain high for quite sometime.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Why the Gloom and Doom?

There is a sense of gloom and doom that has descended upon the people of the United States. With this devastating recession that has engulfed our nation, the continuing housing crisis, slow job recovery prospects, massive amounts of government debt, two wars going on, losses in the stock market and loss of equity in the houses, underwater mortgages, losses in retirement accounts, and you can see a perfect storm of anger that is brewing across America.

Whatever the economists say about the recovery, it is the common folk who are the ultimate bearer of what a recovery going to be and it is not a recovery at all. People are really hurting (which I read it every day in different newspapers on the internet). There are more candidates out there than the jobs and the employers are being pickier about it and so the less competitive kind are being left out and that is creating this sense of gloom and doom. People are afraid about the future not only for themselves but for the children and their grand children. This is the first time that there is so much anger, frustration and a sense of helplessness that things are getting out of hand and the American spirit is on shaky ground. Which is the next innovation that would guide the people out of this gloom and doom and would people be able to benefit from it or it will also be ultimately outsourced or become victim to free trade. We will see what happens in November elections and you will see how the politicians fare in it.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Radio Lives on

When the song “Video killed the Radio Star” was launched in the 1980 at the start of MTV, it was deemed so that the radio will be a casualty of the new electronic age but it has not been that case. In fact now the radio is still reigning supreme despite all the entertainment and media outlets out there and the tendency of having that visual perception. What happened? Just plain and simple radio is here to stay just because we have to listen while we are driving or doing other things which need our immediate and most attention.

When we are driving, we have to pay attention to the roads, so we cant look to something else and at that time, radio comes handy as your listen to music or news, same with while you are cooking or studying, you need to pay attention to the task at hand and you can listen to radio with taking your eyes off something else. Same with partying in clubs or parties, you need to listen to music and not need to have to pay attention to enjoy other activities. With listening you don’t get distracted and you can accomplish other things. With these and other advantages and you can see that radio is here to stay for a long time to come.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Make or break deal in online shopping

When you shop online what is the main sticking point that prevents you from ordering from one site and another with the same identical items. To me the biggest thing is the shipping costs. They can really vary by location where the primary seller is located and where the consumer is located. And it also depends upon the various kinds of shipping options available. This is what I call the make or break deal while shopping online. Some of the websites have instituted flat rate shipping no matter what you buy and where you buy. Some have created shipping membership whereby you just pay a subscription fee for the shipping for the whole year and you can order anything as long as the membership is valid.

Sometime the shipping is free from the seller to the buyer but you have to pay for shipping if you have to return. Sometimes it is free both ways (being paid by the seller). It maybe free to the buyer but the seller sometimes absorbs those fees as part of the selling cost in terms of lower margins or to attract buyers and retain them with more incentives to buy. Sometimes there is a minimum you have to buy in order to avail free shipping. But for websites who are just starting or who don’t have the means or who are just small enough, it can be frustrating to compete. But here again if you have a unique product you can charge higher fees while absorbing the shipping charges or just charge additional fees in the form of either shipping fees or more appropriately but deceptively handling fees. But I do really care if the site is offering free shipping because it is these additional costs that can send me to another site even while I may be ignoring the fact that the prices charged also include some shipping fees.

Is Free Trade really free?

There has been lots of talk regarding the free trade and a new poll have come out stating the obvious that most of the people in the U.S. have become sour to the word. That is why it has becoming harder for the U.S. government to negotiate free trade agreements with some countries. Why is the mood so sour right now? Don’t you see it is obvious that the economic situation that we are in right now have changed peoples mind about it. It can hurt businesses that have more revenue generating overseas than in here but for most of the people here it just boils down to what is being unfair use of the word free.

Most of the frustration has to do with the fact that while we can claim that we indulge in free trade, other nations necessarily don’t play by that rule with subsidies given to local industries (we do that too) and import tariffs and other barriers that just stifle free trade. It also affects jobs here that are lost due to the outsourcing and other technological factors.Notwithstanding the fact that the cost of doing business in the U.S. is higher than other developing countries that we have concluded free trade agreements and you can see how we can create jobs which pays decent salaries here when you can find easily cheap labor due to the outsourcing and technological advances. But tell that to people who are against the notion of free trade and long for a time where the free trade was about fair trade. If everybody has a decent job than the free trade would be embraced but if every time you conclude a free trade agreement and it results in losses than it really creates a sour taste in your mouth.

The Barriers to a Dream Job

When you are in college (during the good (!) years ) people or the experts use to say that in order to find a dream college or a job that corresponds with your education you have to wait out your luck and be patient with your job search . But that is no longer true now. Since this economy is so unforgiving with regards to jobs, this advice has been thrown out of the window for the majority of us. If you family is rich enough you can still wait it out but even in those families, the situation has changed drastically.

I also once had a dream to find my choice job but the circumstances of life changed all that. You just have to pay your bills no matter what and now any job that brings in money home is better than your dream job. College graduate expectations about getting any job right now is near desperation with students’ loans and other debts accumulating every day. Unless you are super wealthy with no student loans and no debt whatsoever, you can wait for your dream job but even here the more you wait the more time you lose in gaining that essential experience. Right now there has never been so much a barrier in getting your dream job unless you have some brilliant idea in your mind and awaken your entrepreneurial spirit. Say bye bye to your dreams for now at least.

More Frustration and/or Desperation ahead!

The new unemployment figures came out yesterday and they were not pretty. Overall the total loss was over 90 thousand lost with more coming from government job losses but also slower growth in the private sector. What does that mean to the unemployed (including me). More of the same that there are not enough jobs out there to hire everybody willing to work. And if there are then the competition is so fierce that wages are being kept down due to it. But the employers are enjoying a boom with higher quality educated and experienced employees even in places where you need only a simple bachelor’s degree.

You can blame uncertainty of the mid terms elections and the expiring bush tax cuts for it but even with that this economic mess that we are in will last for a few years (not months not withstanding whatever the economists and stock market says otherwise). We have entered a phase where there is a mismatch of the skills required and the skills that people have now (mentioned earlier in one of my posts). Apart from this the continued outsourcing of jobs and the world wide recession and the high costs of hiring even one employee and there you have a classic case of more frustration in job search and finding jobs for the unemployed.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

When your child becomes sick

We always see kids that are sick or have an accident and we feel sorry for them but have you ever think about how it feels for the parents and families that go through the ordeal. Recently I had that experience when my daughter had an accident at school and she broke her arm. Although we rushed her to the emergency room where the attendant made her feel a little bit better but advised us to go to the specialist. We just routinely went there thinking that it would be minor case. But we had the shock of our lives when the doctor told her that she would have to go a minor surgery in which she would be under the general anesthesia.

This news was so shocking to me that I cried, that is how it feels when your own child becomes sick. Although my daughter cried initially in pain but was brave enough to face the procedure (surgery) but we as parents were agonizing for the whole 45-50 minutes the surgery went on and were relieved after we saw our daughter. It is really painful to see your child in such a pain and although for the doctor it is a routine matter but when it is your own flesh and blood then you feel the sickening pain and torture that you have to go through.

The surge in Food Stamps in America

Due to this recession, the number of families getting food stamp is getting worse. Although some people want to restrict this kind of so called “Welfare” but the stories you read says otherwise. It is not that people are in the habit of getting the food stamp, it is just the present situation of economic distress that people are unable to find jobs and thus unable to feed their families, thus the increase in food stamp recipients. I recently read an article stating how the families stay at midnight when their accounts are replenished by food stamp on the first day of the month and then they go to 24 hour super stores to get their monthly food quota from the stores. If you hear their stories, they really want to work, any work for them will do, but they are unable to find work due to various reasons.

To these people food stamps are a lifeline until they get a job (which is by the way getting harder to come back for less educated people). That is why I keep on emphasizing that charity begins at home and we should take care of our folks before we go on having unnecessary adventures abroad. I know we have obligations to other nations in times of calamity, but still if we can just reduce our unnecessary expenses and behave like a financially responsible nation, we may be able to support our less fortunate families here in the United States.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Teaching as a Profession

There was an article recently stating that a new status symbol has emerged which has nothing to do with money. It is called teaching and increasing number of lawyers, and other accomplished people of the industry are trying to be adjunct professors of schools. I was really surprised but most of all happy that these people are not in for the money but for the prestige and honor and status of teaching their trade and knowledge to the new generation.

I am all for teaching as I have also taught some undergraduate and graduate courses in economics and accounting and believe me that is the most satisfying and the most engaging and up-to-date profession out there. You really learn by teaching others and I found out this way by teaching that the things that I learnt by listening to professors and could not understand at that time would make it clear while teaching to other students. Other thing is that you really have to keep yourself up to date in matters pertaining to your teaching each and every day in order to answer questions of your students and in this sense you never are behind on anything of knowledge. The respect and the awe you get from students and other people in your circle really make it clear that why teaching as a profession (especially to university and college students) is such a hot profession.

Insanely Expensive Homes

I was as usual surfing the internet when I came upon an article with videos showing the most expensive houses in the United States and it just took my breath away. There was a house listed for nearly 70 Million Dollars with enough bathrooms to go into one every other day of the month. It was an extremely huge house. I just got to wonder who will invest so much money and live there if they have a small or a decent size family (like maybe six people in the house). The maintenance and property taxes are enough and well into six figures. Unless you have an extended family, you cannot live in these houses with 10 or more bedrooms; you may just become lonely or go crazy.

Although the name beautiful is hardly a good better for these amazing houses, it is just such an extravagance that it just makes you wonder, why spent so much money for just a house. If you really have that much money, I would rather buy land in several states rather than in one. But that is just me, although they look beautiful and envious for people to look at, it is just a shameful way to show off in these economic times.

The YouTube Phenomenon

When I was young, I use to listen to music and wondered what it was like to see it on television, then MTV came and it changed this perspective. But then MTV changed its tune and started showing reality shows and I lost track of the music videos. But the Phenomenon called YouTube has changed this. With the internet being a big part of my life (and I hope it is for everybody), I am able to see every music video and my favorite ones on the internet without waiting for MTV to show and at any time.

Old songs, new songs and even some funny videos and any thing that a common person with a video can put up on then internet and the biggest player of them all YouTube and you can watch instantly and even your loved ones and friends can watch your homemade movies. I also watch upcoming trailers of movies and also literally some movies which are uploaded by people. Although YouTube has created a sensation but it can and have been used for purposes to hurt people so it is a double edged sword. But as the power of the mouse can be used to see and hear whatever you want to, YouTube have revolutionized the way we see short movies and music and all that is in between.

Friday, October 1, 2010

More of the same on Jobs-2

There are just too many applicants for fewer jobs and that is the reality that has not been dawned on many so called advisers on jobs. How much more can you compete when there are more than four applicants to a job? It is obvious with the relevant statistics that there will be always people who will lose out to the next best applicant and then they will be forced to take jobs which is below their qualifications and end up dissatisfied. Sometimes it happens that the employers just reject you before even calling you in since you are overqualified (It has happened to me recently). It is really sad that due to this economic recession, the U.S. is losing a lot of productivity due to the high unemployment rate among the college educated people.

One more thing I want to emphasize that due to the large pool of unemployed applicants, the employers are simply not interested in training people who are not qualified experience wise even if they have the theoretical knowledge. That is why you are seeing the entrepreneurial spirit developing among the unemployed to go it alone rather than hope for a corporate job which may not happen faster than the bills become due. Due to my experience, I have seen that even when I am hired to do a job which I am qualified to do, I had to learn the new employers systems and the style of doing business, so there is no such thing as experienced persons (although I admit that some jobs will have the relevant experience required) but even then if the employers are willing to invest in training people then the unemployment rate will go down.

More of the same on Jobs

Every day there is news about the jobs or the jobless and everybody has an opinion about how to get a job (as I have an opinion also since I am one of the Jobless) but sometimes I feel like the people who are advising don’t know how hard it is to jump hoops to even get an interview. If you have happened to apply to thousands of jobs and not even get an interview, how would you know how to approach one? Even stating the obvious regarding the resume seems to be lost on some people as the HR guys report seeing hundreds of resumes which are a joke or which does not cut it and head straight to the garbage can.

Another thing is if somebody has not found a job, should he or she be not applying to every job there is. It is easy to say that you should not apply to every job even which you are not qualified for but tell that to the person who has to pay the bills. The questions on the interview are another story since it assumes that you should be able to impress the interviewer since you are competing with more applicants. Even with the best credentials and you being their top candidate, any last minute hitch like a hiring freeze or some internal situation can derail a candidate chances of getting hired and it does discourage that person for a while even if somebody says otherwise ( I have been in that situation before so I know how it feels).