Blaine and Associates

Blaine and Associates

Monday, April 30, 2012

New Job Listings


Human Resources Generalist $70K - $75K
This is not your "sexy" HR spot - this is your paper pushing, lots of reports, lots of ads, lots of background checks, lots of compliance, vacation, sick days, termination, benefits paperwork.  This position is ideal for someone sick of people and lovin' the paper process.  Recruiting will be handled by departments - you will run ads for them and select solid candidates for them to meet.  You will set-up each new hire in the system. You will make sure all their paperwork is complete and compliant.  You will assist new hires and old with questions regarding benefits, vacation, PTO, etc. You need solid HR generalist experience and like the fact that it is going to be you, a computer, a screen, files and lots of reporting to do.  Excellent benefits, great office, and really interesting field of medicine and science.
 
Private Equity Assistants (2 needed) $65K - $72K
Westside private equity firm is looking for two Executive Assistants to handle heavy travel (domestic and international), scheduling appointments, rolling calls, expense reports, correspondence and presentations.  This firm offers a great work/life balance, "blue chip" benefits, 401(k) with matching funds, nice hefty bonuses and free lunches.  This firm is unique and values each new hire.  You must have heavy Outlook, MSW, Excel and PowerPoint.  A thorough background check will be conducted.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Baby Boomers in the Marketplace


Are baby boomers taking all the jobs?

Commentary: People in 60s more likely to be working than teens are


By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – The U.S. economy is finally creating jobs again, but most of them seem to be going to aging baby boomers, not to young adults just starting out on their careers.

But as we shall see, appearances can be deceiving.

What we do know, however, is that for the first time in our history, people in their late 60s are more likely to have a job than teenagers are.

Job growth has been very uneven since the end of 2009, with the largest growth in the 55-70 age group and among men.
The raw (but ultimately meaningless) figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics are jarring: Between December 2009 (when employment began to rise again following the Great Recession) and March 2012, employment increased by 4.1 million, according to the BLS survey of households. Employment among older folk — 55 and over — grew by 2.9 million. This group has about a third of the adult population, but accounted for roughly 70% of the employment growth over the past 27 months. Read the BLS data here.

At the same time, the number of employed young adults under 25 grew by just 815,000. Teenage employment actually declined. And employment in the prime working-age population grew by just 437,000.

What’s going on here? Why are the people who should be thinking about retirement clinging to their jobs instead?

Part of this story is a real phenomenon: More baby boomers are staying on the job because they are healthy enough to keep working. They like working. Further, many of them desperately need the money: They lost their retirement nest egg when the housing market collapsed and the stock market stalled. Fewer of them can rely on a defined benefit pension, and more of them must rely on their own savings to fund their retirement.

For the first time in our history, people in their late 60s (gold line) are more likely to be working than teenagers are. People nearing retirement age (purple line) are also staying on the job longer, now that their retirement savings have been washed away by the Great Recession.

Researchers Eric French and David Benson at the Chicago Federal Reserve figured a year ago that the loss of wealth suffered by those nearing retirement increased their participation in the labor force by about 2.9 percentage points. That would mean that an extra half-million people are still punching the time clock every day instead of enjoying their retirement. That’s a half-million or so jobs that younger people could have, but don’t.

Statistics taken out of context

There’s also something else going on with this story: Statistical mirages that exaggerate the extent of the real-world trend. Baby boomers are taking a disproportionate share of the jobs, but it’s not nearly as dramatic as the raw numbers portray. The lesson is to not take statistics out of context.

The first thing to realize about the data is that we can’t really know how many people have gotten a job since 2009, at least not from this BLS survey, which is the government report that tells us who is working and who isn’t.

Because of the way the BLS updated its data to synchronize them with the latest population figures from the 2010 Census, we can’t directly compare January 2012 levels with December 2011 levels. When BLS did the population update a few months ago, it didn’t go back and change any of the old data, even though it was apparent that the Census in 2000 had missed millions of people, particularly teenagers, blacks, Asians, Hispanics and older women.

What's next in labor markets?

Paul Vigna and John Shipman on Markets Hub discuss the state of the labor markets after jobless claims jump. Photo: Getty Images

Those people suddenly showed up in the January 2012 BLS data. This update confused a lot of people, such as Tyler Durden, Rush Limbaugh, Rick Santelli, and Matt Drudge, who broadcast screaming headlines about a record 1.2 million increase in the number of people who were not in the labor force. If you know how the BLS works, you know that number wasn’t meaningful. Read this and shake your head.

And you also know that it isn’t meaningful to say the economy has created 4.1 million jobs since 2009, including 2.9 million older people, as I did in the fourth paragraph of this column.

To get around this discontinuity (avoiding comparing apes and orangutans), the best we can do is to compare December 2009 with December 2011 (and even that comparison can run afoul of annual population revisions). During those 24 months, employment increased by 2.82 million, with 1.85 million added in the 55-70 age group (or 66% of the total).

Employment among young adults increased by 691,000, while employment in the prime working-age population of 25 to 54 increased by just 52,000.

The second thing to realize about these data is that our population is aging. The civilian noninstitutional population (basically, everyone who isn’t in the service or locked up) of people between 55 and 70 grew by more than 6% between 2009 and 2001, while the population from 25 to 54 was actually declining. There’s every reason to believe that most of the employment growth in this age group was simply people who had a job on their 55th birthday and who moved from one category to another. They didn’t get a job, but someone somewhere did.

The good news is that employment has been growing faster than the population in every major demographic group. In other words, the employment-population ratios have been rising since the depths of the recession. But, except for the oldest age group, the employment-population ratio is far below pre-recession levels.

The recession and its aftermath have hurt almost every demographic group. It destroyed the wealth of retirees and those about to retire, forcing them to work longer or to downsize their expectations.

Many young people aren’t getting the opportunities they need to find a place in this world and to begin building their lives. While many of them may be getting valuable skills in school, they aren’t starting families, or buying homes, or getting the work experience they need to move into more responsible jobs that pay more.

The same thing happened to the generation that came of age in the 1930s. They put their lives on hold for years, and we are still living with their legacy: the baby boomers who are now clinging to their jobs.

Rex Nutting is a columnist and MarketWatch's international commentary editor, based in Washington.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

5 Ways to Improve a Bad Day


5 Ways to Improve a Bad Day in 15 Minutes or Less

by Vault Careers
Published: Tuesday, April 03, 2012
Maybe you're just having a case of the Mondays a la Office Space, or you're having a full scale meltdown. Either way, you can turn it around. Just stop, breathe, and read this. We'll get you through it.
1. Go for a walk
If you're far gone enough that you're in danger of throwing a hissy fit or bursting into tears, do no collect $200, do not pass go—remove yourself from the situation immediately and take a walk.
Physically leaving the scene of office turmoil can work wonders for your state of mind. You'll be amazed how relieved you'll feel just remembering there's a world outside your office. And don't doubt the combined powers of sunshine and exercise: together, they're the mood boosting equivalent of the Captain Planet rings uniting. And for even better results…
2. Listen to music
Though it's probably best to avoid the really mopey Radiohead tracks, the cheering effects of music don't really depend on genre. Whether you prefer boppy or introspective songs, studies have shown that music of any kind can help remove you from an irritable, angry frame of mind to a more palatable happy-elated or soothed-contented emotional state.
3. Connect with friends or family
Studies have shown that holding a spouses hand reduces stress, and hearing your mom's voice releases the same amount of feel-good hormones as a hug. So reach out; whether it's scheduling a coffee break with your SO or ducking into the hall to call to mom, do it. Connecting with loved ones can make you feel better on a chemical level, and, perhaps more importantly, remind you that you have support outside of work.
4. Take a coffee break
Getting away from your desk is a great way to perk up anyway, but the caffeine from a trip to the coffee shop can be instantly uplifting as well. Studies have shown that a cup can immediately boost alertness and energy, beating back the blahs, and that long term, people who drink caffeinated coffee are less likely to suffer from depression.
5. Look at this post on Buzzfeed
No headphones, coffee machine, or time to take a walk? Look at this.
Feel better!
--Cathy Vandewater, Vault.com

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT - $60-$65K + BONUS

Expanding real estate management firm looking for an executive assistant to work for two partners. Will follow through on multi-family listings from start to finish - from putting packages together when the partners go out to meet clients, to researching potential clients and targeting their needs.  In addition, you will run the entire administrative component of each sales transaction - paperwork, agreements, leases, escrow, etc., and liaison with buyer, seller, escrow, banks, and inspectors.

Bonus based on company sales.  Bonuses in 2011 totaled $15,000.

MSW, Excel, PP, Outlook, real estate experience is very helpful. College degree preferred.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Advice on Unemployment


Career Advice for the Unemployed: Stress Less

Career Advice Stress Less

What career advice can be better than giving you a job?
Since I cannot offer you a job, perhaps some of the experiences I have used during period of uncertainties I have gone through, I can share with you.

While I may not know how you feel, I know the most unnerving feeling is probably uncertainty and stress of bills mounting and being cash strapped.

Don’t Give Up

Yes, I know easier said than done. Don’t give up looking for a job. So long as you keep the effort, one day the accumulation of these efforts will build to a tipping point.

You will find that job. This is one career advice for the unemployed I can give. There has been so many times in my life when I felt dejected and out of energy, but the feeling of not giving up and keep going on has often served me well.

So, don’t give up. No good news today does not mean no good news tomorrow.

Share Your Concerns

Yes, you have a lot of stress; you have a lot of problems. Share these with your close friends or family. You may think you are troubling them and do not want to add to their own problems, in actual fact it makes them feel better if you share it with with them. At least, they know how you feel.

Additionally, let friends know of your concerns. Let ego take a back seat. Not being employed is not a crime and sometimes is not of your own doing. When you share your concerns, you are actually also opening doors. Friends who care may actually spread the word around and get you jobs.

This is one career advice tip for the unemployed I know that works.

See it from a Different Angle

I know this career advice for the unemployed is going to be tough to understand. You are unemployed, how can you see it from a different angle? Learn this, each situation gives us an experience that we can introspect. Look within yourself and see what opportunities there are to explore other areas of interests.

This is your best opportunity. What do you have to lose? What are some of the things you have wanted to do that you never had a chance? Are there skills you want to pick up and never had the time? Use interviews to find out about other industries.

Rise Above Your Emotions

You must be going through an emotional roller coaster as the days go by and you have not found a job. Rise above the emotions of anger and depression. When you have these feelings you cannot make good judgments. Realize that there are some things that cannot be rushed.

Be in equilibrium with the situation, do what you have to do but do not be angry or depressed about it. Call it the “Law of Attraction” if you like – how can you attract good things if you are constantly negative?

Accept Don’t Resist

Some things cannot be changed and some things will come at it’s own time. Does it mean you do not do anything about it? No. Does it mean you accept your fate? No. So, what does this career advice for the unemployed mean when it says accept, don’t resist?

It means, do what you have to do now.

Is it sending out resumes?

Is it spreading the word with friends and associates that you are looking for a job?

Then do just that, do not resist what needs to be done. Things don’t come if you don’t act.

Act

Perhaps the most practical and do-able career advice for the unemployed is to act. Go stick yourself out there. Send out the resumes, speak to people, share your concerns, tell them to spread the word that you need employment. I know you are likely to say, you have done all that, but it is not enough. If you have done all that, see if there are other things you can do.

Search the web for inspiration. Believe in the Butterfly Effect when looking for a job. A small action now may result in big returns later. You job may just be around the corner once you send out your 1,057th resume.
I hope this career advice for the unemployed can help you see things in a different light and lessen your stress. Keep going and good luck.

Yun Siang Long, or Long as he is popularly known, spent 16 years in three multinational ad agencies where he also trained people in areas of career management.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

New Job Listing!

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT (LEGAL) - $65K+ DOE

Three years experience in entertainment law, litigation not required.  Film and TV experience a plus.  Strong administrative skills a must!  MS Word, Excel, Outlook.  Excellent benefits.