Wiser Worker Blog

Reading exercises your mind and makes your brain more flexible.

Continue to enhance their lives.

Regular readers have a proven ability to focus.

Readers who frequently read have a higher ability to learning and retain knowledge.

Peaceful reading reduces stress levels

You will improve your concentration and focus while enjoying a good book.

People who read often increased their vocabulary

The more you read, the more knowledgeable you become.

Reading gives you the opportunity to learn about other cultures and places of the world

You always have something to talk about and you will be able to share your knowledge with others perhaps you can curl up with a good book and read to a loved one.

And finally the best reason to read more?  I found an excellent deal at Borders AARP members can take advantage of instant discounts when they display their AARP card or if they use the code for AARP members when ordering online. These offers last until November 16, 2009, don’t let this opportunity to explore a good book pass by without you!

Social Security insures families against the loss of income caused by retirement, disability, or death, with nearly universal coverage; Social Security insurance covers 94 percent of workers in paid employment and self-employment. The program has been a success; however, Social Security has a long-term solvency challenge.

Social Security insurance protects all age groups.

Social Security provides a retirement benefit that is guaranteed for life and is adjusted to keep pace with inflation.

Social Security benefits are adequately funded for another 32 years.

Social Security is the principal source of family income for nearly half of older Americans.

Social Security keeps older Americans out of poverty.

Social Security provides critical income support to minorities.

Social Security is crucial for women.

Social Security is the foundation of workers’ retirement security, but it was never intended to be the only source.

Source AARP.org

In case you missed it, AARP is rumored to be in support of the healthcare bill. It’s all no it’s the ONLY conversation on the social marketing sites and everyone no matter what your party affiliations seems to have an opinion. However I’m left with tonight this thought…

What does this all mean?

What happens if this bill gets passed?

What does it mean to someone that HAS private insurance?

What does it mean to someone who does NOT have insurance?

How many generations will be paying for this bill?

How quickly will this all take effect?

Well if you can answer these questions answers then you are steps ahead….if you can’t you have a lot of catching up to do! If you want to read through the entire bill here’s a copy of the expected bill for Health Care reform. (whole bill) However I did find Health Care Reform Bill - A Plain English Translation. Whichever way you want to go, make sure you find a position and be informed!

In case you missed it, AARP is rumored to be in support of the healthcare bill. It’s all no it’s the ONLY conversation on the social marketing sites and everyone no matter what your party affiliations seems to have an opinion. However I’m left with tonight this thought…

What does this all mean?

What happens if this bill gets passed?

What does it mean to someone that HAS private insurance?

What does it mean to someone who does NOT have insurance?

How many generations will be paying for this bill?

How quickly will this all take effect?

Well if you can answer these questions answers then you are steps ahead….if you can’t you have a lot of catching up to do!

If you want to read through the entire bill here’s a copy of the expected bill for Health Care reform. (whole bill) However I did find Health Care Reform Bill - A Plain English Translation.

Whichever way you want to go, make sure you find a position and be informed!

Enjoy our job fair series as it was designed for you and is our tribute to America’s older worker.

If you need more information drop me an email or call me (813) 775-6279.  

What was your experience?  Did you get hired?

So how long have you had to wait to hear from various and sundry employers regarding jobs that you have applied for?  Two days?  Two weeks? Two months?!

You are not alone.

It definitely is a Hurry-Up-And-Wait game in the job search world.

What the game board looks like:

The employer advertises that there is a job opening in their business. You put your game piece into place and start your moves around the board.  You get the application, fill it in, write a cover letter, and take them back to the business or send them in, submit a resume if requested, contact your references to let them know they may be called by this employer….and wait.  And wait.  And WAIT!

By this time your game piece has already moved six or seven times on the board.  If you are a lucky player, you were able to jump two or three spaces ahead for various reasons.  You may have landed on the

“If you had a resume already prepared, move ahead three spaces.”

Or you may get to move ahead two places and jump five other applicants if

“You personally know the employer or one of your references knows the employer”.

Other extra moves may come if you land on the space that that says,

“Timing is everything. You turned in your application early so move ahead three spaces.”

Your goal is to get around the board as quickly as possible, and not have to go back any spaces because you forgot to sign the application, or you didn’t fill in every box on the application, you wore sweat pants and a T-shirt, or shorts and flip-flops when you took your application back.  There are so many things that one can do to have to move backwards on the Hurry Up and Wait game board.  But the clever, motivated and patient job search players have the advantage, they are always moving forward – not back.

Two moves that can help reduce the anxiety:

1. Ask the employer at the beginning of the process when they expect to make a decision of who gets interviewed
2. Call after a week if you have not heard anything and ask if there has been a decision made on when the employer will be interviewing applicants.

Of course the player/applicant would not ask if they specifically have been chosen to be interviewed - just when.

Patience is very important

Employers are very busy and things do come up that interfere with the interview process.  For every job that is advertised, unless it is a highly technical job, there are 30-60 applicants.  It takes time to review each application, to read each resume, to check references (some employers check references BEFORE they decide to interview which is why you never want to say “references upon request”), to find a time to interview 5-10 people and double check with their current employees to see if they want to move up or across and take the job.  Just remember that for the employer it is also a Hurry Up And Wait process. They are not being rude. It is not personal.  Just do your part and play your game well. Make the smart moves.  And then of course…wait.

This guest post was written by Ginger Campbell. She has worked for the AARP Foundation for 32 years and was a Project Director for the Senior Employment program that helped over 5,500 mature job seekers in Humboldt and Sonoma Counties in. Northern CA. She is now the National Program Coordinator/WorkSearch SCSEP.

I am Amy Hoster the Business Development Manager for WiserWorker.com; I wanted to share with you our story, the journey that brought The Employment Guide to create WiserWorker.com. I am more than a manager for a project, or maybe this is more than just a ‘job,’ it’s an honor to have been given the opportunity to help create a tool that will ultimately help older jobseekers find jobs. As a manager of the product I serve many roles within our organization, starting with the older worker initiative and ending with the creation of Wiser Worker. It’s been a long road to get WiserWorker.com to where we are now, and we have plenty more work to do, but today let me share with you how we got started so you can get a better picture of where we are going.

The Problem:

Believe it or not our older worker initiative started with a one sales person from the Phoenix Employment Guide, he came into my office one day and said;

“Amy we need to help older workers reenter the job market so I invited the local AARP program participants to the job fair next week”.

Great idea, but what I didn’t know was that job fair was going to change our business and ultimately send The Employment Guide down a road that would be full of challenges and in the end rewards. A week later at that job fair I met a man in probably his late 60’s who asked if I could help him find a resume. He didn’t know what a resume was but he knew he needed one and he wanted me to show him were he could get one. Luckily we had a resume specialist at that event who was able to help him create a resume, but it was that day I knew we needed to help the older worker.

Start of a Solution

I was also fortunate our event the Phoenix AARP Foundation Project Director Maria Ramirez-Trillo who sat down and educated me on how they helped the community. The next day I set out to work on a plan with the goal of helping senior workers in markets all across the country, I figured that if we could do it in Phoenix we could duplicate our efforts in all of our markets. After months of planning I was able to start setting our program in motion by working with the AARP Foundation on a national level with their Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP). The Department of Labor funds SCSEP programs in markets all across the country and work with many different partners.

Together with the AARP Foundation, our first project would be to create a digest size “resource book” that would hold all the essential information a job seeker would need to know to re-enter the job market. Our first run we published 15,000 books and that only got us through about 3 months, we are now in our 3^rd issue of that publication book titled Wiser Worker Survival Guide due out late this summer, pick up a copy at any of our job fairs or drop me a line at amy.hoster@wiserworker.com.

The Job Fairs

By this point in the older worker project was heating up and The Employment Guide decided that there was a need to hold an events that would highlight jobs and opportunities for the older worker. We strive to create an environment were we could invite mature workers to a locations in their local neighborhoods where they could look for a job. The Employment Guide is no stranger to the world of job fairs and since we started our program with a single job fair in Phoenix it seemed fitting that we move forward to create a job fair program that would not only honor but benefit the older job seeker. In June of 2007 we started planning the 1^st Annual National Employ the Older Worker Job Fair Series honoring the Department of Labor’s older worker programs. We consulted with Department of Labor and The AARP Foundation to ensure the events were created and formatted so that the older worker would get the most out of the event. Employmentguide.com is one of the only job boards that’s listed on the Department of Labors Resource Page. When the last event was held we had hosted over 47 job fairs in 40 states in over 6 weeks, when our events were attended by over 40,000 job seekers. Our events are held in honor of the Department of Labor’s National Older Worker Week held during the last week of every September.

The Website

It was then when the concept of WiserWorker.com was born, the product was created so that there would be a method of helping older job seekers regardless of where they lived. Our goal was to create a internet product rich with resources for the fast growing demographic in the country and with a job board that will ultimately be tailored for the older more mature job seeker. We are still developing our product and value feedback from users, because after all we started this product be finding out what the public needs and creating a product based on that information.

Hopefully you have a better picture of how committed we are to the working adult. Our program started a little over 2 years ago, frankly speaking I don’t think any of us knew we would end up where we are now. We have a great partnership with our flagship product EmploymentGuide.com and our 2008 Job Fair Series is in motion this year with over 65 events. We will be updating the job fairs section as we get closer to the events. Please visit our site and send me your feedback. What do you don’t like is just as important as what you like. I am interested in what changes would you like to see in the future. I can be reached at amy.hoster@wiserworker.com or 623-869-8888 Ext 238

(photo by danesparza)

The Supreme Court has shifted the burden of proof over to companies who are under claims of age discrimination especially in the event of lay offs or downsizing.

By a 7-1 vote, the court ruled that when a company asserts layoffs of older workers were based on factors other than the workers’ age, the company has the burden of proving those factors are valid.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which handles age complaints, reports that age claims have increased steadily over the past decade. About 19,000 are filed annually.

Lawyers who represent employees cheered the decision, as business groups termed it a disappointment. “

… Employers can defend themselves by showing that the lopsided impact was based on “reasonable factors” other than age, such as performance criteria or needed skills.

Read: High court aids older workers who claim bias, USA Today

The article in USA Today goes on to explain that trying to provide proof of reasonable factors is difficult for them to do and will probably lead to more costly lawsuits.  On one hand the representative interviewed from the AARP says that if the ruling swung the other way, it’d be nearly impossible for the defendent.  The ruling is said to help to protect the older workers who seem to bear the brunt of age discrimination or an unfair disadvantage in downsizing decisions.

Advocates for older workers, including AARP, hailed the decision. They said it would strengthen the rights of laid-off workers to challenge supposedly “neutral” corporate policies that fall heavily on the older employees.

… The burden “is now squarely on the shoulders of employers,” said Sheryl Willert, a lawyer in Seattle. She cautioned employers who rely on subjective factors for deciding on layoffs: “It is more imperative than ever that employers engage in very clear evaluation and analysis and remove as much subjectivity as possible from business decisions.”

Read: Court protects workers against age bias, Seattle Times

I read this and was thinking that while this is great, what kind of help does that offer to people facing discrimination issues now.  Or for individuals who are in the midst of a job search.  I received an email from someone just this morning asking for more information on resources that were available for someone who was in their 60’s looking for work.  This individual was frustrated with being 2nd runner up for a job, seemingly only because of their age. 

So I did some research and found this article on the AARP website called: What You Can and Can’t Do About Age Bias.  Bob Skladany offers some good advice for dealing with age bias while on the job hunt.  It includes answers about what you can and can’t do about an employer and their decisions about hiring and firing. 

Photo by dbking

This initial post on the Wiser Worker Blog is a guest post from our Wiser Working friend Dr. Marvin Copes of the AARP Alabama State Leadership Group.

• So you’ve been out of work?
• You want to return to the workforce?
• Where do I begin to look for employment?

Planning for the job search is important. What type of job am I looking for? Assess your talents, skills, and abilities you have to offer an employer. Are you looking for part-time or full-time employment? What type of a schedule fits your needs? Do you need benefits (if not, this may give you an edge)? Do you want seasonal or temporary work? How flexible are you? These questions need carefully considered and YOU need to know the answers.

The best source of job searching is your network of people you have worked with, socialized with, gone to church with, and organizations you are involved in. By previously being in the job market, you have an advantage. Use your network of contacts in developing your plan and learn more about the labor market climate. Look to employers who have made a commitment to hiring older workers. Look for articles or stories concerning senior workers in the media, chamber of commerce office, state employment office, or state career center as sources. Visit career sites such as WiserWorker.com to see what jobs are available in your market.

Many individuals find that job-search activities are a major drain on their energy and on their self-esteem and confidence. Finding a job is a lot like selling a product and you are the product. The most successful salesperson is one who gets out there and makes lots of calls. It’s a number game. The same holds true in looking for a job. The more contacts you make regarding employment, the better the opportunity you hold to get a job.

Keep a journal or record in order to help you track your job search. Do some job-search activity each day. In order to maintain an accurate and current record of your job search, faithfully make entries in your journal. Remember – “The squeaky wheel gets greased.” You may find that volunteering is the perfect outlet for sharpening your skills and getting a foot in the employment door. If you do well at your volunteer job, the organization may want to hire you to keep your expertise.

Selling yourself to an employer may be difficult. You may feel that you don’t have a lot to offer compared to a younger worker or you are unsure about what you have to offer. GET OVER IT!

Employers continue to say that one of the most important things they look for in a job applicant is attitude! Most employers say you can teach individuals how to perform specific tasks, but it is impossible to teach anyone how to have the kind of positive outlook that will be an asset to the organization.

Dr. Marvin Copes, Maylene, Alabama; AARP Alabama State Leadership; Corporate Online Profile Employment Solutions (COPES), www.CopesSolutions.com; Job Counselor, AWARE, Aging Workers Are Reliable Employees, Positive Maturity, Inc., A Partner of United Way mlcopes@charter.net