Jobacle Mishmash

One of my favorite things about the Internet is how it allows shoppers to comparison shop before pulling the trigger on a purchase.For example, it worked like a charm when searching for New York movers.  I came across Citymove, a free service that has moving companies compete for your business based on pre-selected criteria.  As a consumer, I like choices.  And that's why I dig the reverse-auction business model.  So now foolishly, as I've done many times in the past, I'm going to share an idea.  (If it already exists, let me know!  And if it doesn't, don't steal it!)  How about a Website where you can post your crappy old resume and have resume writers bid for the job.  They can try to win you over with action verbs and templates before you hire them.  You also can negotiate price and deadline.It seems like a no-brainer.  Resume writers get increased exposure and new clients, while employees end up with more reputable options.  … [Read more...] about Reverse Bidding Resume Writing Idea

Until a few years ago, retirement was generally seen as a well-deserved reward for so many years of honorable service, and that a decent pension was the tangible goody you got, a veritable pot of gold attainable at the end of the career rainbow. The attitude being that they will now pay you not to lead, organize, or troubleshoot, but simply wake up each morning. Your new responsibility is to only in- and exhale. And so, in this paradigm, the old-timer could then walk, or crawl away into a sunset of complete, but comfortable, inertia. And irrelevance; or worse... Now more than ever, some-especially professionals and higher echelon corporate types- are increasingly reluctant to cash out when they reach retirement age. The reasons for this change in thinking have less to do with economic wants, and more to do with psychological needs. I should know because the haunting ambivalence of whether to stay or to go plagues me on a daily basis. Maybe, just maybe, I can stay lucky enough to, at … [Read more...] about 4 Reasons Why Retirement Scares the Living S#it Out of Me (and I could retire tomorrow!)

As if you were looking for another reason to buy an Amazon Kindle...you can now subscribe to Jobacle.com and get innovative career advice and breaking employment news auto-delivered wirelessly!Don't forget that you can also listen to the Jobacle podcast for FREE on your mobile phone! … [Read more...] about Jobacle on the Kindle

Recently, I have become a popular guy for phony job offers.  I'm not sure if it's my gullible-looking face or my growing online presence; either way, it's really annoying!  So what do you guys think - should I go for it?  ;-) Hello, I introduce myself as Samuel Williams , Marketing Director, MAX TEXTILE LIMITED that produces both Chinese and African textile materials in Hong Kong, We're presently looking for a trustworthy representative in USA/Canada that can help as a link between the company and our clients over there in the {US} We're offering you to work from home for us as a representative in US, This package is on contract so it wont affect your present job. The company produces various clothing materials, batiks, assorted fabrics and traditional costumes. We get numerous orders from our clients in US weekly and they make pre-payments for the supplies which is usually in form of Money Orders or Cashiers Check which are not readily cashable and take long time to … [Read more...] about Another Fake Job Offer

Our nation's desk-bound civil servants have too much time on their hands. While casually checking the Jobacle traffic logs from the past few months I noticed an alarming trend:Government workers love to play Office Bingo.  Hundreds of them!For some reason, the little game we devised last year, has clearly resonated with folks logging on from a .gov computer.If you're bored at work, we kindly ask you to play along too!DOWNLOAD BINGO CARDAn ApologyWith the warmer weather cloaking NY, I'm having a little trouble keeping my blog/podcast focus.  It could be my anti-climactic promotion at my "real" job, or my never-ending house hunt.  Or, perhaps, just the distraction of girls in their summer clothes. Who knows.  We are however working on some great future content.  From the secret of the perfect shoe shine to a look at the "coolest" jobs on the planet, please subscribe now so you don't miss a beat. … [Read more...] about Government Workers Love Office Bingo

Here's a look at some of the big career news from the past week.JOBACLE:  For the blog, March came in like a lion...and is leaving like a lion! Over 15,000 unique visitors, new partnerships and lots of freelance work: I can't thank you all enough! Your continued support is appreciated.ENTRY LEVEL EMPLOYEES:  CollegeGrad.com, an entry level job Website, has released the results of a survey examining what employers want most from recent college grads.  The results:#1 - The student's major (44%)#2 - The student's interviewing skills (18%)#3 - The student's internship/experience (17%)#4 - The college the student graduated from (10%)#5 - Other miscellaneous qualifications (5%)#6 - The student's GPA (4%)#7 - The student's personal appearance (1%)#8 - The student's computer skills (1%)Five hundred "top entry level" employers participated. Are we really supposed to believe that only 1% of the folks care about appearance?  C'mon!  This is the real world.  … [Read more...] about What Employers Want From Entry Level Grads, etc.

Every few weeks I deliver a post that reveals The State of Jobacle. I believe this transparency helps forge a tighter relationship with our readers.- The Jobacle blog continues to grow, drawing in over 10k unique visitors a month.- The Working Podcast is experiencing a tremendous resurgence, totaling over 60k downloads in February alone. Wow!- Please, please, please take four seconds (literally!) to give us high marks.- I've been toying with the idea of revamping Jobacle to a more magazine-type Web style. Preview the testing site and let me know what you think.  I'm undecided. Your feedback will determine what happens.- One of our regular bloggers, Sally Lawton, is moving on to greener pastures. If you are interested in filling her post, check out some of her work here and drop me an e-mail at jobacle (at) gmail (dot) com.- So far in 2008, the top five posts are:How to (Not) Write a Goodbye Letter to Your Co-Workers8 Types of Office Crushes2008 Sick Day CalendarOffice Animals: … [Read more...] about Jobacle Podcast Booms! Your Feedback Needed

As another month of Jobacle-mania wraps up, here's what's on my mind:1) Thanks to the ladies at Clearchannel's NewsRadio 740 KTRH in Houston, TX for giving us some love.2) The time waster of the month has definitely been the Cubicle Freakout Game. How much destruction can you unleash on your cube in the allotted time period?3) The Working Podcast continues to grow rapidly, especially in Asia!?  For some reason we've been getting a nice clip of traffic from qq.com and music.soso.  I have no idea what they're saying about us...but thank you...I think!  Can anyone translate?4) An open message to career blogger posers.  You know who you are. Download the 90-second rant.5) According to a recent Vault survey, 89% of employers are interested in viewing video resumes. If that's the case, we think about 88% of them will be disappointed. While video has swept the Web, we here at Jobacle still feel the video resume has nowhere to go but up. Vault recently wrapped up their … [Read more...] about Video Resumes Continue to Fail, etc.