• 16 out of the 30 corporations that make up the current Dow Jones Industrial Average started during a recession
• Walt Disney Corporation began during the recession in 1923-24.
• Hewlett-Packard Corporation began in 1938 during the Great Depression.
• Microsoft Corporation began during the 1975 recession.

But sometimes, you just need a little sumthin’ to get you going.  Well why not two tools that can help you connect with people needing your services today!

TaskRabbit “helps individuals and small businesses in a community outsource their tasks and deliveries.”  While being a personal assistant isn’t the most glamorous job on the planet, it can and does pay and TaskRabbit acts as the conduit to make that happen.

So maybe being a personal assistant isn’t for you.  BUT, you have other skills such as being a software programmer, web developer, accountant, marketer or even data entry specialist?  Well those needing your services can connect up with you on eLance.   eLance is a virtual marketplace and connector with firms needing professional services.   I’ve had some personal experience using them for a project and the system works!   So why not check out eLance and hang out your own shingle today!

Making your way in the world in your own firm still seem too craze?  Well Beck’s Cafe did a post on some new job search engines back on March 23rd, 2010 that you might want to check, have a look here at “Flexjobs, Telecommute Job Finder and Simply Hired Help You Find Jobs that You Can Do From Home“

Digital Literacy

If you are new to computers, Microsoft offers FREE on-line tutorials on basic computer skills.  It is recommended that you utilize these tools before accessing a voucher.

• The Basic curriculum features a course called A First Course Toward Digital Literacy. This course teaches absolute beginners to computing about what a valuable tool computers can be in society today, and the basics of using the mouse and the keyboard.

• Microsoft Digital Literacy Standard curriculum. Short tutorials on Microsoft Office 2003 or examples and screen shots from Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft Windows Vista.

The Advanced curriculum features several courses that expand on what learners mastered in the Standard curriculum. These courses explore core topics like writing a resume, social networking, creating an internet e-mail account, and searching the internet.

18,000 E-Learning Vouchers

• 13,000 individual vouchers for Microsoft E-Learning – Office Products (Business Worker): Each voucher will allow a single user to redeem one e-learning collection. An e-learning collection is made up of several e-learning courses. The voucher code can only be used once. Users can choose courses in the following curriculums:
  • Office 2003 (Excel, Word, Powerpoint, Outlook)
  • Windows Vista & Office 2007 (Excel, Word, Powerpoint, Outlook)

• 5,000 individual vouchers for Microsoft E-Learning — IT Professional Products: Each voucher will allow a single user to redeem one e-learning collection on a specific advanced IT topic (ie. database administration, certified systems engineer, web design, etc.).

8,000 Certification Exam Vouchers

8,000 individual vouchers for Business Certification exams: Each voucher would enable a single user to pursue a certification on the coursework completed above.  Microsoft will provide 3,000 for Office 2003 and 5,000 for Office 2007.

There is quite a bit there so if your computer skills or internet skills or those of someone you know are not up to par, this is a FREE opportunity for training.  This training can only help you in your current and future jobs!  Learn more at this link:  Elevate America America Program for Massachusetts.

Each list varies in how they work.

• Telecommute Jobs List is basically a free listing site that is ad driven.  Their job listings are real, having been pulled from Craig’s List, and, according to their site, “are the result of a multi-city (all) search of jobs posted on Craig’s List with the Telecommute option checked”. The Google Ad and Sponsor Ad listings might bring you to other sites that are helpful.
• Flex Jobs is very well reviewed by the public press, has lots of what appear to be real endorsements from real people and has a large current listings.   The listings are screened by people who work for Flex Jobs to weed out the spam and job ads that are really scams.   There is a charge however of either $49.95 per year or $14.95 per month.  Those prices seem very reasonable for what looks like a legitimate site.
• Simply Hired is a job search engine that we’ve mentioned before in our post, “Simply Hired and Transgender Friendly Too“.  What you do is go to the Simply Hired site, then click on “Advanced Search”, from there in the keyword search type in, “Work From Home”, then press enter and watch Simply Hired pull up those jobs.  To make life easier for our readers, just click the following link and you’ll get the list of “work from home” jobs automatically,  Simply Hired Work From Home Jobs Listings

So give it a try all you work from homers!  Who knows, your next commute might be 5 minutes!

Nestled in at 711 Atlantic Ave and conveniently located across the street from the south station train platform and next to the Boston Sports Club, you get an awful lot for $20. Check this list:

• Wired and wireless Internet
• Phone services
• Administrative services
• Mail services
• Printing/copying
• Unlimited faxing
• Free coffee/water/snacks
• Conference room
• Lounge and private phone areas

You can check them out at their web site:  Workbar You can check a few reviews out on WorkBar here, here and here.

They [The U.S. Census] currently have many job opportunities.  Some are full-time, some are part-time.  Enumerators, who follow-up on households that have not sent in their Census make $15-$22 per hour, depending on location for up to a couple of months.  Other positions are available as well… apply for one of these positions either on-line or by contacting the local Census office in your area.  You can work right in your own neighborhood and have no commute.  You have to be a U.S. citizen, take a 30 minute test (there is a practice test) and pass a background check….The federal government does not discriminate or either sexual orientation or gender identity.  They have LGBT outreach programs in place as well as a trans coordinator.

Sounds like a workin’ girls dream to me!   Here’s you link to job heaven: The U.S. Census Jobs Board

1. Start with a Blog:  Basically, start to get your presence on the internet; your “spot” so to speak.  Here at Beck’s Cafe we’ve found that focusing on an area of your specialty or that you might be passionate about helps that blog be more alive and compelling to visitors; like a cute specialty shop in Cambridge you might visit regularly because it has just what you want.
2. Collect Emai Addresses:  Janet notes that only 1% of everyone who visits your fledgling business will purchase anything.  So telling people, in a respectful and hopefully engaging manner, what’s going on with your new baby business is important.  In my experience with internet marketing, this has to be opt-in, in other words, let visitors decide if they want in or not to your mail list.
3. Give before you receive:  Janet reminds us that when someone provides you their email address they are generally trusting  you not to spam them.  So give your new followers something of value.  In other words, enhance their life somehow.  On the internet, reputation is the coin of the realm
4. Ask your subscribers what they want: Do a simple survey in other words.  Tools like Survey Monkey are free or low cost and do a good job.
5. Dazzle them with your knowledge:  Janet tells us that now that you know who your readers are (from their email addresses) and what they need (from the survey) start to directly answer those needs and add value to your visitors
6. Keep In Touch:  You don’t want to spam your readers, but  you do want to let them know what’s cooking at your site.   Just as Kohl’s or Target keeps you in the know with their weekly circulars about their stores, so too you can let others know what’s happening with yours.
7. The 80/20 Rule:  For every 20% of the time you pitch your wares or knowledge on-line, 80% of the time give value for no charge.  Enhance people’s lives regularly.  We all only go around once after all!
8. Encourage a 2-way relationship:  You may not realize it, but, even as you read this, you and I are engaging in a 2-way relationship.  Your thinking this article is really rubbish whilst you sip your coffee or you the germ of a new idea for a new business is taking shape.  In either case, it’s two way.   And that’s what you want in your business.  Note a faceless entity but a two way street of conversation.

Janet has more to share and so we’d encourage you to click on over to her article at MarketLikeAChick.com by clicking to her article, “8 Steps to Build an Internet Business That Will Last“

With a tag line like that, The Awesome Foundation sounds pretty awesome all right.  Basically, the Awesome foundation provides small seed capital and space for small start ups to do their thing.  The small grant, $1000, gets you going, the location, gives  you space to do it in.

Pretty neat stuff.

Got an awesome idea?  Why not pitch it at The Awesome Foundation and see how it flies!

Leading women: The women who rise to the top of your organization in the coming years may have a few things in common.

She has a list of characteristics that women (and really men too) will need in place in our own lives to be effective at leading at work; how many of these characteristics ring true?

• Authenticity: Martha defines this as a woman, “Being self-aware and doing something about it. This trait allows a woman to understand at a very base level her strengths, weaknesses, desires, and fears.”  And then taking this trait and leveraging it into her life at work.
• Fearlessness: Martha feels this trait is the opposite of being fearful.  She further notes that those who act out of fear act in an unbalanced way that compromises our ability to be effective.  Fearless women focus on what they want to achieve and very often achieve it.
• Focus: Here Martha tosses aside the notion that as women, we have an unlimited ability to multi-task and be equally effective across all our tasks.   Martha says that such practices must stop and that only focus will result in achieving the results we want in our lives.
• Energy:  Finally Martha points out the to do anything women need to take care of themselves, “working longer hours, compromising sleep, and depleting our wellness. We must know and attend to what brings us energy in the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual sense.”

Four very interesting characteristics women will need for the coming years.  If you’ve got any coffee left in your mug, mouse on over to the full article at Sales and Marketing Magazine by clicking to  “Leading Women“

Women are starting their own businesses in record numbers, and from what these enterprising women say, it would not be surprising to find out that, as a result, the sales of pajama bottoms and sweatshirts have soared!

The facts on women entrepreneurship are hot; Between 1997 and 2002 women owned firms grew by 19.8% while all U.S. firms grew by 7% (SCORE Small Biz Stats & Trends)  The facts on women’s PJ sales growth I can’t find any data on – but I bet Ginger is right. When I’ve worked from home during long periods assigned to Asia or Europe PJ bottoms and comfy sweatshirts were easy!

Hmmm…might be time to reverse the trend and get that business a little extra bling.  Learn how at Ginger’s free teleclass.

Nobel Laureates Dr. Elizabeth H. Blackburn and Dr. Carol W. Greider recently shared the Nobel Prize for their work in understanding how chromosomes protect themselves as they divide.  The benefit to their work so far is in creating new experimental cancer therapies and in understanding the aging process better.  While their work in science earned them the Nobel, a rarity as only 10 other women have won the Nobel prize in Medicine, their thoughts on how science is conducted on a personal and institutional level by the scientists themselves, women in particular, bears consideration.

Dr. Blackburn noted with regards to the career structure for scientists that, “The career structure is very much a career structure that has worked for men”.  This should come as no surprise as the foundations of science came up from organizations built by men.  They’ve certainly done many great things but maybe now is a time to rethink how we conduct science to give more room for women’s equal brilliance to have impact.  Brilliance isn’t constrained by gender but institutional bias against gender, womens in particular, can artificially trap brilliance and creativity.

Dr. Greider said, “a more flexible approach to part-time research and career breaks would help women continue to advance their careers during their childbearing years.”  My guess is that many men might balk at such an approach due to the institutional sense that intense focus on a problem is needed to solve the problem.  Dr. Greider qualifies her statement by saying, “I’m not talking about doing second-rate quality science, far from it.  You can do really good research when you are doing it part-time.”  Her call is for a more flexibility for women in their involvement in pushing the envelope in science.  I can’t help but think that would be a good thing for men too  and perhaps for science overall.

Dr. Blackburn and Dr. Greider may be the most visible promoters of this issue, (and mother’s themselves) but they are not alone.    A book published in 2008 by Cornell University Press entitled, “Motherhood, the Elephant in the Laboratory: Women Scientists Speak Out” provides a platform for this same topic.  The book, edited by Emily Monosson, an independent toxicologist, brings together the stories of 34 women scientists around this issue of being scientists in mostly male dominated science spaces and yet trying to live the balanced lives they need as mothers and as dedicated scientists.  The books stories are static but the companion blog has even more stories that are quite alive on this important topic.

The blog Science Mom’s, which grew out of the book, “Motherhood, The Elephant in the Laboratory” seeks to capture these living stories, provide a forum to publicize them, and to share them to foster the debate and discussion on this issue.   And the blog Mama PhD. takes a similar tack recording stories of women trying to make life balance, motherhood and rigorous science all work together in a system that was conceived for success by men but, for which a time has come to rethink the structure of how to successfully “do” science.

At age 94 Mr. Cox is still going strong leading his firm, despite having congestive heart failure.   The story is inspiring and filled with great lessons:

• Age has nothing to do with entrepreneurship
• Start a firm based on your passion not just to make a buck
• Apply your creative energy, don’t just bottle it up and sit on it
• Decide purposefully that being creative is more fun than sitting back no matter what your age

You can read the whole story on Emblematic and their amazing founder here: Ageless Entrepreneur.

Massachusetts Recovery and Reinvestment Labor and Workforce Development

Good site full of MA specific information on how our state is spending it’s allotment, where it is going and how you might tap into the funds.  If you read between the lines you’ll see spaces and industries that are growing and that will have job opportunities in them.  As Elizabeth Johnston, of Lightship Research, has noted – “…the national average is a turnover rate of 30%, which means if you look at 100 companies and an average transition time of 120 days there is approximately 10 job openings at any given time. This is often referred to as the “hidden or non-published job market.”

Oodles of Jobs Info @ Beck’s Cafe

Back in June of 2009 we noted in our post, Oodle of Jobs, that Yahoo’s Hot Job’s site was continuously tracking what was happening on the jobs front with the U.S. stimulus plan.  Well, they still are and I think that’s a great thing.  We can read all we want about the stimulus plan but unless we can put down our coffee mugs and go see the implementation at the Cafe level, so to speak, the plan isn’t helpful.  So trot off to Yahoo’s Stimulus Job Watch site to get some tips and leads on industries to look for.

The Economy Changes: So Change With It!

This is a great piece published in the NY Times.  It’s a quick read, motivating, and has some wonderful ideas.

Job Trends Under the Stimulus Plan and Obama Administration

Many times you just need a clue on the job categories then you can use a search engine to at least help you figure out where to go next.    The Job Trends article does exactly that; it gives  you some real clues as to the industries to look.   Need training?   Check out the Massachusetts Recovery and Reinvestment site we noted above for where to start looking for training.

Massachusetts Recovery Plan

The Masscahusetts Recovery Plan site has a great stack of information on what is happening and how you might tap into it.   Probably best for leads on industries and job categories for you to use other search engines to find an actual position.  You can also follow them on Twitter

MTPC Job Bank

Our link to an article we did in August of 08 on the The Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition’s Job Bank might be of help.   It is not always up to date, but, you can find one or two positions there a month that can be helpful.  Generally social services and LGBT related.

Simply Hired and Transgender Friendly Too

In August of 2007 we ran an article on the Simply Hired job search engine.   It’s a great tool to take what you’ve learned in the links above on industries and job categories that are growing and then to focus in on companies that might be good targets.

Job Hunter’s Bible

Nelson Bolle’s premier online resource for figuring out what you want to do and then how to find a way to get paid for it.   Fun to read, no nonsense, and worth your time.

]]> http://beckscafe.com/2009/09/03/workin-girls-career-job-training-roundup/feed/ 0 http://beckscafe.com/2009/08/28/ways-women-can-hold-their-own-in-a-male-work-world/ http://beckscafe.com/2009/08/28/ways-women-can-hold-their-own-in-a-male-work-world/#comments Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:00:58 +0000 Rebecca http://beckscafe.com/?p=911 Okay, its 2008, we are in a bad recession, jobs are tight…if men are having a hard time keeping jobs how can women in such a world??

My lead in is meant to be provocative as the story in the Wall Street Journal is almost archaic and the comments to the story seem spot on.  So let’s have at it; coffee still warm for this afternoon’s ready? Good!

The article entitled, “Ways Women Can Hold Their Own in a Male World” seems like reasonable advice on the surface.  The author lists seven helpful tactics a woman should consider to hold her own in the job world, they are:

• Make sure the firm you work for actually values women (sadly some firms really are misogynistic; I currently work for one)
• Identify Alpha and Beta males (presumably the Alpha males are always pounding the desk so it’s easier to figure them out)
• Find a Mentor (sounds like good advice for any employee)
• Speak Assertively (elminate “I’m Sorry” is one nugget, others on how to speak are also listed)
• Socialize with the boys (be ready to do alot of whisky shots presumably but don’t skip shaving your legs)
• Don’t assume stereotypical roles (guess I won’t bring in my homemade cookies!)

The article is interseting and has some nuggets but I would save some coffee for the juicy comments and they are JUICY!   Among the caustic retorts and truly sound advice from women commenters?

• “I can’t believe this article had to be written in 2008.”
• “Dominating the position through a colorful use of vocabulary is the best way to get ahead.”
• “Good grief….. how about just do a good job and make a difference. Works every time.”

Well worth the entertainment value and yes, some nuggets to use too, so save some coffee and go have a read.  You may reach this article at the WSJ at this link here.

You can see the promotional video here: Western MA a Place to Work

There’s a good bit of information in it about sectors that are being stimulated:

• Money has been released by HUD for energy efficieny projects (maybe now is the time to start a small scale home improvement company?)
• Wind Energy had a big bump up in funding
• Big-money transportation projects were announced in Maryland, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, California, and Colorado (perhaps the construction firms there are hiring?)
• There is a $4 million piece going to the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), which includes funding for adult employment and training activities and training for jobs in high-growth and emerging industry sectors.

Read all about it at Yahoo Hot Jobs here: http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-articles-stimulus_job_watch-794

“I have some good news and some, well, less than good news…statistically speaking of course”.

Those of us tech-marketing weenies looked about and said to ourselves, “wow, even WE didn’t understand that but it was good; we didn’t know this guy was that good at creating copy”. But he continued.

And we all got kinda puzzled seeing charts, graphs, scattergrams, hockey stick graphs, deep valley graphs and then realized…oh crap we really ARE in trouble!

My first thought was, so typical, “My freakin’ hair removal budget down the drain”. Said through clenched teeth under my breath my blonde hair’d friends words echoing through my ears, “The hair Becki, it’s always about THE HAIR”. Many of our kind readers will remember her refrain, so captured in “Hair Removal Horror” … and here it was again. But my fretting and dark clouds soon had a silver lining as I learned about workshare. And that was a treat.

Share my job? Oh hell ya! I’m all about that and so I really DID feel joyful upon learning that my company would join many others in New England to spread the hurt a bit and help us all keep our jobs to make it through the tough times.

Jo Landers, President of Jo Lander’s Business Services, captures the essence of this program best on her site, when she writes,

The WorkShare Program, run by the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (formerly the DET), is a way to ‘partially’ layoff employees during a slowdown, without having to let them go or shut your business down completely.

The program is a boon on many levels for companies who are being assaulted by the difficult business climate. Among the many benefits are:

1. The company putting Workshare into place doesn’t lose it’s super skilled labor.
2. The employees aren’t hitting the bricks to the unemployment line, they are working, just a little less for a little less pay
3. Workshare payments count against a company’s state unemployment account but because a company is paying only partial benefits, the impact is much less
4. Workers (like me) do see a paycut, but, if one were to be laid off, the reduction would be significantly larger and in this economy who knows for how long.
5. Employees continue to keep their health care and other benefits during a Workshare arrangement

You can read Jo’s excellent summary on the Massachusetts Workshare Program at her professional services site here. You can read all about it from the employees and the employer’s perspective at mass.gov at this link here.

So, if the firm you work is having some challenges keeping the ship aright, suggest a Workshare program. Everyone sharing a little can keep the boat afloat giving everyone valuable time to make things right for the long term.

(Photo courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Flickr Photostream)

John’s bio is interesting.  He is the founder of Magnatune, a Berkeley, California-based record label he founded in 2003 and which is known for its commercial application of Creative Commons licensing and overtly artist-friendly business practices.  He’s been profiled by Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and The Economist. You can read his full profile at Wikipedia here.

John gave a talk at LeWeb 08 about entrepreneurship which was provocative, simple and poweful.   If your on the fence about starting your own firm, John’s presentation may help you re-think what you are doing.  You can view his talk recorded at Le Web at UStream TV here.   If you just want to check out his slide deck, you can download it from Slide Share here.

At that post, written by Dr. Jillian Todd Weiss, of The Transgender Workplace Blog, you’ll find links to:

• Links to the HBR blog article written on the topic
• Info on the HBR issue being published with the coverage
• Info on a recent study by Schilt and Wiswall on the gender wage gap, using data about transgender workplace experiences

All in all, very exciting to see!

Oh, if you know of a job that is trans-friendly, consider posting it at MTPC’s board to spread the word on the opening!

Beck’s Cafe also covered another list of transgender friendly jobs at our article, “Simply Hired and Transgender Friendly too” Go take a peek to see what you can find. Also, Southern Comfort Conference, on September 30 – October 5th, 2008 will be featuring their Second Annual Career Expo (a national event) in collaboration with Out and Equal Workplace Advocates. Exhibiting companies include GM, Raytheon, IBM, and many others