SavvySugar

Can You Guess the Least Stressful Job?

SavvySugar — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:45:09 -0700

Money magazine took a survey of 35,000 employees on their overall job satisfaction, and came up with some interesting results. In addition to the highest paid jobs in the country and the overall 10 best jobs, the survey yielded a list of the 10 least stressful jobs, based on what percentage of employees rated their position as low stress. The results may surprise you; see if you can guess which jobs rated lowest on the stress meter.

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15 Tips For a Better Work-Life Balance

SavvySugar — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:00:50 -0700

Staying on top of your A-game and maintaining a healthy work-life balance can feel like an oxymoron. Most of us experience an uneven pull between our social lives and work commitments, which isn't surprising considering the current economy and fact that employees everywhere are working overtime to show they're an indispensable part of the team. Nevertheless, it's important to establish a healthy harmony between your job and personal life. This doesn't just mean working overtime to please your boss and boyfriend, it means creating a balance of time spent working, playing, and pleasing yourself.

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10 Areas of Government With the Greatest Job Growth

SavvySugar — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:30:07 -0700

Working for the government used to elicit groans of expectant dullness, but times have changed. Instead of criticizing working for the ultimate Man, Uncle Sam, more people are drawn to the secure nature of working for the federal government. According to a new report from the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, the federal government will have hired 273,000 new workers by Fall of 2012 for jobs the group calls "mission critical" - that's a 41 percent hiring increase over the three previous fiscal years.

Partnership gathered hiring projections from 35 of the largest federal agencies and used the information to determine the 10 categories that will have the highest job growth. You can search job listings on the government's official job website, and see the 10 areas expected to undergo the most growth in the next three years when you read more.

Medical and public health: 54,000 new jobs by 2012.
Security and protection: 52,000 jobs
Compliance and enforcement: 31,280 jobs
Legal: 23,600 jobs
Administration and program management: 17,300 jobs
Accounting and budget: 16,640 jobs
Information technology: 11,500 jobs
Business and Industry: 10,770 jobs
Engineering: 10,640 jobs
Transportation: 10,560 jobs

Is Your Employer Hiring Right Now?

SavvySugar — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:30:37 -0700

Companies that shed jobs over the last year or so are in no rush to rebuild their head counts, and most are waiting until they see steady and solid economic indicators before increasing payroll obligations. Is your employer advertising open jobs right now or are they taking it easy?

Could You Work Nights?

SavvySugar — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 06:30:48 -0700

I've quickly become a fan of the show Nurse Jackie, but every time I watch it I am reminded that I wouldn't be a productive night shift employee.

It's clear some careers offer more appeal than others, and nursing is both rewarding, heroic and challenging, but just the idea of finishing the workday in the wee hours of the night and coming home to breakfast makes my stomach turn. I am sure I could train my body to function on a unique schedule, but don't think I could make the life sacrifices that go along with the unorthodox job. Could you work in the midnight hours?

Photo courtesy of Showtime

Government Jobs Among Most Recession-Proof

SavvySugar — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:15:46 -0700

Even with the unemployment rate pushing nine percent (yikes), we hear reports all the time that at least some industries are hiring. But with everyone from banks to car companies to retailers tightening their belts, you have to wonder: what exactly are these elusive industries?

Market research firm Market Research Media asked this exact question, and came up with the industries that are continuing to grow during our economy’s rough patch - and the ones that aren’t faring so well. To see what they found, read more.

Areas hit hardest by the recession include:

Start-ups
Advertising
Semiconductors (think microchips)

The most recession-resistant jobs, all in the government sector, are:

Research and development
Homeland security
Aerospace and defense

I guess it’s no surprise that government jobs would be the safest bet right now, but I still found this breakdown interesting. Aerospace and research jobs obviously require pretty specific training, but homeland security jobs run the gamut from human resources specialists to engineers, and actually seem like a feasible option for someone looking to recession-proof her career. Would you consider looking to the public sector for a little more job security?

Self Suggests Polishing Your Creds to Get Hired

SavvySugar — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:30:21 -0700

April's Self presents an unusual, but timely topic in its Happiness Update section -"Getting Hired Right Now." The advice ranges from tips on exuding confidence during an interview to being open to criticism, but I am most impressed by the reminder to beef up your résumé with stats instead of a standard description of your past positions. Self says:

Polish Your Creds: To make your résumé shine, quantify your achievements. ("I increased profits by 9 percent" versus simply saying "sales experiences.") If you email your CV, mention one of your feats in the subject line. ("Teacher who improved class test scores 10 percent seeks position.") Finally, address a dry spell by listing what you've accomplished during your hiatus (e.g., getting involved in a charity).

Making a few careful improvements could be what it takes to bring your résumé from presentable to professional. I couldn't agree more that using quantitative credentials better markets your skills than any title you've held.

Could the Weak Job Market Be Good For New Grads?

SavvySugar — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 06:30:33 -0700

The class of 2009 is well in to its first semester of senior year, and the future could be even more up in the air for this group than it has been for previous graduates. The job market won't exactly be welcoming the class of '09 with opening arms and evidence of that can be seen in the reduction of corporate recruiters on college campuses. A survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers projects the weakest outlook in hiring for new graduates in six years, while just two months ago the group projected a 6 percent increase in hiring.

The job market is changing rapidly and the decline in hiring projections can be attributed to a number of factors, like a weaker financial sector and tighter budgets all around. The Wall Street Journal spoke with one senior finance major at NYU who planned on making his career on Wall Street, and is now exploring other options like Teach for America. He says the economic downturn makes young job seekers "feel freer to pursue your real passions."

Do you think the weak job market will allow new graduates to choose paths truer to themselves?

Source

Job Search Tip: Getting Desperate? Don't Let It Show

SavvySugar — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:00:21 -0800

Once you’ve been job hunting for a while, desperation starts to kick in. You may find yourself thinking that you don’t care what the job is or what it pays - you just need a steady paycheck coming in. But if you’ve reached that point in your search, focus on not letting your desperation show; otherwise, you could be making the process even harder on yourself.

Although you may think that conveying to a future employer your willingness to do any job, at any salary, will make you a more appealing candidate, it actually has the opposite effect. I’ve had candidates do everything from calculating out loud how much they need to make to cover their bills to leaving dozens of messages about a position in one day. And unfortunately, those weren’t the applicants who got the job.

Acting desperate and needy makes you appear as though you don’t value your own experience and skills - and if you don’t value them, why should your employer? Present yourself as flexible and enthusiastic, but remember that you have a lot to offer and any employer would be lucky to have you.

10 Tips For Getting (and Nailing) a Job Interview

SavvySugar — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 02:30:57 -0800

An increasingly large pool of unemployed workers, many of whom are highly qualified and have killer resumes, means that getting an interview and landing a new job is a longer and more challenging process these days. After sorting through piles of resumes, hiring managers are now holding more rounds of interviews than before. Get through the first round of interviews with these tips.

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