Career Management Alliance Blog

According to research firm, SBI Energy, the worldwide market for energy storage could grow more than 15% per year to over $10 billion in 2015.  Utilities have multiple challenges, among them are the need to meet renewable energy portfolio standards and keep a constant supply of power for consumers.  Increasing energy storage capabilities can smooth out the intermittent nature of wind and solar power. Continue Reading »

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With unemployment holding at nearly 10%, many job seekers are contemplating a career change or transition to another industry to solve their job search problems.  While the grass may look greener in other careers or industries, get the facts. For example, you may believe that the bulk of job openings are for Registered Nurses. But, according to the US Labor Market Information Center, RNs are #5 on the Most Openings – All Education Levels list. Who edged them out? Cashiers, Retail Salespersons, Waiters and Waitresses, and Customer Service Representatives. Continue Reading »

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The controversy is back.

Should Chief Financial Officers be required to hold a CPA designation, or not?

It began with a guest post on the FEI blog, with a couple of nightmares, I mean examples, of companies with non-CPA CFOs at the helm, and continued on through the comment section. This has also been a hot topic in Proformative, too.  Continue Reading »

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As an Executive Career Coach, I am privy to some information that is not widely known by “the general public.” For example, I am well aware that many people (including some of my clients) have been quitting their jobs over the past few years. Isn’t it ironic that while millions of people are doing everything they can to hold onto their jobs – millions of other people are “up and quitting.” In some cases, they even quit without another job to go to! Yes, quitting can be the healthiest, most appropriate thing to do when a job becomes truly intolerable. So WHY are so many employees quitting, and WHY NOW? In response to questions like these, AIRS News recently published a piece that I thought was particularly informative and interesting. AIRS is an organization I respect, so I always pay attention to their research. See below for this AIRS report, and their positive conclusion. – FRM Continue Reading »

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The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data shows more people quit their jobs in February, March, and April than were laid off during those three months. In April, nearly 2 million people quit their jobs, the largest number of resignations in more than a year. By contrast, 1.75 million people were laid off in April, the fewest since January 2007. Continue Reading »

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Peg writes: I haven’t had to look for a job in a long time, but in the current climate, I’d like to be prepared for possible job loss. What trends on hiring and job search should I be aware of?

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The Career Doctor responds: Here are the trends I see:

• Gravitation of job search and recruiting to mobile devices.
• Social-media sites as the future of job search and recruiting, largely because they are less expensive for employers. Employers can learn more about candidates and find candidates that are qualified for the job more effectively through social media than through job boards.
• Sites that offer tools to aid in the job search, such as sites where you can build your resume or manage your job search.
• No more job boards — or a very different incarnation of job boards than what we see today (in the next 5-10 years).

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I'm enjoying reading The Twitter Job Search Guide by Susan Britton Whitcomb, et al. One of my tweets is published in the book: "Follow industry leaders on Twitter on reply to posts--helps you become known, stay in the loop & find out who's hiring." My twitter handle is @joanolson. Here are some helpful tweets by others: @barbarasafani - Follow the tweets of companies you admire or would like to work for and retweet their tweets. @CFOCoach - Follow recruiters and HR, and then read between the lines in their posts. @JanetCranford - Use http://search.twitter.com to locate people in your field; and be sure to include relevant keywords in your bio to help them find you. @KellyeCrane - Find someone with similar interests to you and follow who they're following. Great way to expand your network.

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A few months ago there were grand reports that the unemployment rate had changed (for the better), and the feds were patting themselves on the back for making such a great change. I don’t think it is the role of the federal government to create jobs, as that is unsustainable (unless we all get taxed at much higher rates).  But the feds created a bunch of jobs… temp, high paying jobs that would all GO AWAY. Guess what?  They are going away.  And the benefit they saw (lower unemployment rates) will be reversed in soon-to-be-published reports when those temp employees are out on the street again. Continue Reading »

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In my day...and probably yours too, few counselors would have recommended going to work for the US government. Other than a stable job, the backbiting, politicizing and frustration of trying to make a difference in a quicksand environment seemed one heck of a way to waste a life. (That just a younger version of me talking) Fast forward to 2010 - Comparable jobs in the public versus private sector: Government jobs pay more. Lots more. - Opportunity: Large private sector companies will grow slower in headcount...especially in the United States than any other sector. Government workers, having missed all the layoffs for the last 20 years, will actually retire in droves. Continue Reading »

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Special Announcement: Amazing Human Resources Internship opportunity in Washington DC.  I am taking a break from the usual HR and career advice blogging for a special announcement about a very cool internship opportunity for an aspiring HR pro who wants to gain meaningful work experience in talent acquisition and management.  The successful candidate will work with me and one of my favorite HR leaders for a great company in Washington DC. Who we are looking for:

• You must be an aspiring HR professional who is ready to jump into the deep end of the HR pool and learn all about recruiting, training, and running an HR department
• We need you ASAP and we need you to stay with us through early August when our HR Generalist returns from maternity leave Continue Reading »

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