COBRA News

The following statement may be found at www.dol.gov. Many of you may be entitled to premium reductions. Hopefully, this information will be of value to making life just a little bit less frustrating. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 expanded eligibility for COBRA and provides a premium reduction to certain qualified individuals.
Individuals eligible for COBRA coverage who were involuntarily terminated by their employer on or after September 1, 2008 through December 31, 2009 who are eligible for COBRA and elect COBRA may be eligible to pay a reduced premium amount that is only 35% of the premium costs for your COBRA coverage.
If you were terminated during that period and were covered by your employer’s plan on your last day of employment, your plan administrator should provide you a notice of your eligibility to elect COBRA and to receive a premium reduction. You may also want to contact your employer directly to ask about getting the premium reduction.
If you have specific questions about your situation and how these new rules apply to you, you may wish to speak with one of our Benefits Advisors by calling 1.866.444.3272. You should also check the Employee Benefits Security Administration’s dedicated Web page at www.dol.gov/COBRA. This Web page will contain helpful information and will be updated regularly to include FAQs and new information related to the process you should follow to apply for COBRA and/or the premium reduction.

Simple Yet Brilliant

Eli Weisel was one of the many who was financially ruined by Bernard Madoff. Not only did he lose his personal wealth but it nearly wiped out his charitable organization. Her is the punishment he suggested as reported by the New York Times: “I would like him to be in a solitary cell with only a screen, and on that screen for at least five years of his life, every day and every night, there should be pictures of his victims, one after the other after the other, all the time a voice saying, ‘Look what you have done to this old lady, look what you have done to that child, look what you have done,’ nothing else.”

Keep Your Resumes Current

Now that we are into 2009 and supposedly will start to see the benefits of the stimulus package, it is a good time to take stock of where you are professionally. Pull out your resume and see if it reflects what you are currently doing. If not, take a few minutes and brush it up. You never know when internal promotions might become a possibility. At the same time, it is good to be prepared if outside opportunities present themselves!

President Obama

Congratulations to President Obama! This is the first time I have stayed awake through a State of the Union (or whatever they are calling it this year) address since the Reagan years. He is definitely dynamic but I wish I came away more positive and hopeful than I did. Creating jobs in construction and the automobile industry is wonderful but I did not hear enough talk about jobs geared to our degreed professionals. He said everyone needs to advance beyond a high school diploma but there are so many college grads from 2007 and 2008 without jobs in their field. My score for tonight's presentation is about 6 out of 10. If the economy starts to correct itself, I will correct my score...........

Employers Control the Market!

Some people are getting the message that this is an employer's market better than others. I was chatting with a web developer who, like so many others, is struggling right now because we created too many people with very similar skills when the market looked very hot. He is used to billing out at $35-45 hourly but no one is biting, One of my clients needs some help but will only pay around $20. Without hesitation, the candidate told me he is very interested.

On the other hand, I need some contract machinists for another client on the 3rd shift. Pay rate is around $25 hourly - not great but not terribly low. A candidate presented himself at $40 hourly and refused to talk for a penny less. I guess being unemployed for 8 months has not been long enough to knock some sense into him.

As I have mentioned here before, nothing is forever. Should you be struggling, it is best to take a lower paying position within your field than a random one outside if at all possible.

Small Business Owners Workshop

I just came across this announcement and thought it was worth sharing:
Winter 2009 Small Business Certificate Series - "Workshop #6 - Current Marketing Strategies"Friday, February 20, 2009 - 9:00 A.M. Through 11:30 A.M.

Location: New Jersey Department of Labor Workforce DevelopmentUnion County One Stop Career Center200 West Second Street, 2nd FloorPlainfield, NJ 07060County: UnionWhat to Bring: Pre-registration is required. To register call NJ Small Business Development Center at Kean University (908) 737- 4220.

Event Details: This Workshop will show you how to define, target, and reach the markets where your service or products will be most successful; how to understand your competitive edge; develop your USP (Unique Selling Proposition); and how to create a powerfulLow-cost, high-impact MAP (Marketing Action Plan) to deliver your message; andMarketing in a down economy. *Snow day Feb. 27th-call first*

Legal Holiday? - Bah Humbug!!

Many folks automatically assume that Presidents Day means a day of rest for the job seeker. I don't think so! Certainly, most banks, some financial services firms, public schools and others are closed but most telecommunications, manufacturing, accounting, and for profit educational services will be open. Guess what, many staffing companies will be open for business too! Show some initiative tomorrow and let employers know you are pulling out all the stops to getting a great job!

The Trap Door

Trap doors are dangerous! You never know where you will end up. Counter offers are the job market's version of trap doors and could lead you into some messy situations. Many people will tell you that all veteran recruiters, like myself, will guide you away from counter offers simply to make a commission off your new placement. Not true! I have witnessed too many unhappy endings based on these last minute attempts to retain an employee.

Think about it for a moment. you have been a highly regarded member of your organization for a number years, received a lot of praise, and perhaps a few awards. What you have not received are raises and promotions commensurate with your performance. Someone else comes along and offers you a 12% increase, a higher level position, more vacation time, and a decent environment. When you inform your current employer of this, they get upset and beg you to stay. They offer you a promotion, 14% raise, and agree to add a week's vacation. Wow! What a great deal! Who could refuse this? YOU CAN REFUSE IT AND SHOULD REFUSE IT!

I used to work for a firm that behaved exactly like this. As soon as the president thought you were leaving, she rolled out the red carpet. All went well for a month or so then she would add someone new to the team and, a few months later, the recipient of the counter offer was gone! I hear similar stories from candidates all the time. I recently placed someone with a firm doing scientific research. He called me two days ahead of the start date to tell me his employer made a counter offer he could not refuse. I tried to rationalize with him and explained that it made no sense that he, all of a sudden, became that much more valuable and irreplaceable. He did not listen and stayed put. Six months later, he sent me his resume after being fired because the employer did not feel his job justified what he was being paid.

Think long and hard before you trap yourself with a counter offer!!

P.S. Happy Valentines Day!

Philadelphia Area Job Fair

Here is a job fair announcement from JobCircle:

Celebrate Diversity! Philadelphia, PA Since 2003, Jobcircle.com has been hosting THE Premier Diversity Career Fair in Philadelphia. We call it "Celebrate Diversity! Philadelphia" and we'd like you to be a part of this fantastic day. Meet with representatives from dozens of companies and discover the great career opportunites that await you. We also offer free career workshops throughout the day to assist you with your job search. You won't want to miss this great day of career development and education. Professional attire. Thursday, March 26, 2009 10:00AM - 2:30PM The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts 300 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA

Re-Training Options

Recessions usually open all sorts of doors. One doorway could lead to new directions for your career. Before walking through the passage way and hearing the latch click behind you, investigate your options extensively.

First, completely research the program you are considering. Check for the job options it will lead to, average salary range (though that is tough to figure right now), extended career path it might lead to, length of time you will need to be in school, tuition, availability of financial aid.

Next, find out if the school is accredited to teach the curriculum, how long they have taught, graduation rate, and placement rate. Ask to see testimonials of past employers and past graduates. If they are all over a year old, something is wrong. You need to know that all accredited proprietary trade schools must have current testimonials, a list of employers, and placement rates available to review. If not, run to the nearest exit!

I have a lot of experience in this area so ask away!

The Dreaded Reference Check!

Reference checks seem to be taking on more significance as the job market grows tougher. For some reason, companies are starting to ask for this to be done even before a resume is submitted by a recruiting firm. Other than slowing down the process (which could be by design), I am not sure how valuable a tool this is. Anyone could and will say nice things in most cases because either they want to help the candidate secure their next job or they do not want to be sued for causing the candidate to be rejected. Have you ever had a call from one of these reference checking agencies? Half the time, the caller ended the conversation without asking me any decent questions.

Unfortunately, this is reality at least for now. Make sure you keep your reference list updated with proper contact information and keep in touch with these folks to make sure they are still ready, willing, able to help you!

Confidentially Speaking

There has been a lot of chat around my office of late. While it is not unusual for candidates who are employed to leave off the name of their current employer, it is odd to see the word CONFIDENTIAL used for 2 or even 3 jobs on one resume! This raises flags of every color for me and several colleagues in the recruiting field. Our assumption is that a candidate must be hiding something really awful to not tell us where they worked 10 years ago. Give this decision some serious thought when writing or updating your resume and remember that it serves as your advertising brochure!

Etc.

• Did you notice there were a few less ads during the Super Bowl this year? NBC was filling with a ton of promos for their programming schedule. Did they really need to push Leno's switch to prime time 8 months before it happens or were they simply filling space?
• Macy's announced massive cutbacks at their regional operations centers today. Perhaps they will focus on better customer service rather than paying executive salaries to too many people.
• Mayor Bloomberg of NYC says he knows he cannot put everyone in his city to work but promises to make sure they have food and lodging. How will he do this and who will pay?
• The busiest area I am noticing in the job market the past few weeks is education, especially at the secondary and proprietary trade school levels. This might be the time to pick up some chalk (I am dating myself with this concept) and start teaching if you need a new career path to follow!!