Careers | A-Plus Career and Resume, LLC

Does Everyone Really Hate HR – Two Perspectives?

July 8th, 2020

Workforce Perspective: Zety, a job search/job seeker targeted publisher, polled 926 American workers regarding HR, and their thoughts on various issues in dealing with HR. You can find the report at https://zety.com/blog/is-hr-human to view the full study. Here are some of the results:

37% of people won’t report being sexually harassed at work.

43% won’t report discrimination.

84% won’t report a fellow worker not doing their work/putting in the proper hours.

57% won’t report interpersonal issues with boss.

63% won’t report interpersonal challenges with a coworker.

60% won’t report a coworker for stealing from a company.

18% won’t report an issue with their benefits or pay.

69% of those polled do not believe HR advocates for employees.

From continual inconsistency in application of the rules to HR employees gossiping to others about what was said in a private conversation, there are a variety of reasons that workers feel this way. Staff not receiving timely answers to inquiries, feeling they may be retaliated against, and in general not wanting to “rock the boat” are also part of the study. While there are many reasons for people feeling uncomfortable talking to HR, basically it comes down to employees believing they won’t be heard, or their issues valued. That dovetails directly with workers thinking that ultimately their expression of some sort of dissatisfaction could lead to them being the next position downsized or eliminated.

Zety’s overall findings:

People lack the confidence to report even the most serious issues at work.
Very few people would seek advice from HR, only speaking to them when money is at stake.
There’s a real lack of faith in HR’s objectivity and trustworthiness.
There are some genuinely weird and wonderful workplace issues out there!

Karen’s perspective: HR has a lot of work to do in repairing their relationship with the humans they are supposed to be supporting. However, I caution you not to blame this all on HR. Many a Human Resources professional has wanted to enact change, do something about discrimination or harassment, or put programs and policies in place to negate or reduce many of the issues cited in the study, but C-level/V-level and Board of Directors often stop them. While many want to make a difference, they are often told no, and if they fight it, their job will suddenly disappear. This should offer a different perspective, that the HR staff often has nowhere to go when they have issues and are quickly shut down when trying to address them. If this is the case at your company, don’t blame HR, blame the leadership.

Karen Silins is a multi-certified, award winning resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses. After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm. Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers, executives and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals. She keeps current regarding trends in the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, executive/career management coaching, consulting for small businesses in business plan development, marketing, blogging, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 20-50+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area. She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.

Categories Careers, Human Resources, Talent Management
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Working, Post COVID

May 8th, 2020

How do we deal with work-from-home post COVID? While there are people who can work from home and do so effectively, actually most are not wired to do so. Look around you at work. How many people struggle to pay attention, keep looking at their cell phones, may already dislike their work but can’t seem to move on, and/or pop up their Facebook pages and home shopping on the work computer? How many people do you see that need people interaction, not just a Chatty Kathy, but those that truly enjoy in-person communication with others? That only leaves about two out of every 10 people to work from home successfully.

Most individuals are too easily distracted, already struggle to “do work” at the workplace, are actually workaholics and being in a business environment helps control that problem, and/or need the in-person interaction of others to maintain their sanity. The COVID crisis, and so many struggling to work from home has made this quite apparent. It isn’t just about working with your spouse or children in the same room. Besides, can you really call it a home office if it is your kitchen table or couch.

I have had more than one colleague who worked from home and quit doing so due to time management, distraction and interpersonal engagement issues. Additionally, I have had numerous clients fail in a business while working from home, hate doing so for an employer, or had their spouse experience the same, because of identical issues. This doesn’t make you a bad employee – it makes you human, and a person who either wants or needs to be in a traditional work environment. Knowing that you need a conventional office atmosphere, makes you a good employee!

But Karen, we have video chat, IM’s, and email, etc. Yes, we do, and this type of technology actually means more time wasting for many employees than it ever creates. Look at those who can’t even manage their cell phone texting or emails. Understanding this fact gives us power and control, a huge benefit to our career.

Interaction, not just in the periphery, in social distancing, or via Zoom, is necessary for human beings. From hugs during tough times to just sitting close to another human being, we ARE wired to do these things! Certainly, our current environment has changed things, but this to shall pass. Precautions can be taken at work to mitigate risk and keep you safe. Admit it if you can’t really work from home, it will be of value to both your career and personal life.

Karen Silins is a multi-certified, award winning resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses. After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm. Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers, executives and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals. She keeps current regarding trends in the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, executive/career management coaching, consulting for small businesses in marketing, blogging, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 20-50+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area. She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.

Categories Business Coaching, Career Coaching, Career Management, Careers, Human Resources, Life Coaching, Opinion, Talent Management
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Level Up Your Soft Skills to Grow Your Career

March 5th, 2020

A colleague recently asked about increasing soft skills, including resources and how to go about it. Here is my answer and the link to the article she wrote from it.

Lezlie, thanks for asking about leveling up soft skills. Blessedly, there are tremendous free and low-cost options for people to obtain professional development online and in-person. Typically, that in-person training is more at corporate, community college, and community center/library level, whereas online comes from multiple sources, including LinkedIn. However, individuals must be careful in thinking that any course can transmit into soft skills immediately. Mentorship is also incredibly valuable. From interpersonal communication, public speaking, conflict management, and emotional intelligence, to trend awareness, situational awareness, and time management, all of these skills are developed over time and with practice. This means practicing with others, using it in your daily interactions and approaches in your workplace and personal life, and realizing you can’t work on 10 of these simultaneously. Just like learning a new language, it is with use that you gain proficiency. Read about them, take courses in them, and use them. As a couple of skills start to become more routine to you, add another. Also, remember that others come equipped with certain skills you don’t have and vice versa, so learn from them.

https://www.resumelezlie.com/how-to-dominate-your-career-change-with-soft-skills/

Categories Career Coaching, Career Management, Careers, Job Search, Personal Branding
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The Salary Gap: What We Can Do About It

October 8th, 2019

According to an October 3rd, 2019 article in the Harvard Business Review: Closing the Gender Wealth Gap by Nicole Torres, the trend of companies to do little to nothing in closing the gender pay gap continues. “In the United States, women who work year-round earn somewhere near 82 cents for every dollar earned by men. But they only own about 32 cents for every dollar of wealth owned by men. Both of these gaps are far more acute for black and Latina women.”

This article isn’t about companies indiscriminately raising the pay of women in mass to the same as men as not all experience, education, certifications, etc., are the same. It is about analyzing where the disparities are occurring. Take one of my clients, we will call her Sara. Sara works for a Fortune 500 company, holds a coveted certification that none of the men in her department possess but is required for many in her job, has a specialized and related degree that her fellow employees lack, is the go-to for challenging clients which results in overbooking of her schedule, has a stellar set of performance reviews, and has been in this department for 15+ years (longer than most of the other employees), and yet, still gets paid $30,000 less than her counterparts. Thus, why she is working with me.

The company (including HR) doesn’t care about the inconsistency, nor does her management chain. She is just told “that is the way it is, you accepted the pay we gave you earlier” and “it was your choice to get that certification.” Really, do these particular HR and management personnel live in reality? No, they don’t, but if they analyze her pay discrepancy, they must look at all of their employees. The only thing that will force this organization to do so is a lawsuit, and it can’t be from a lone employee, it must come from many within the organization. The men in her department back her up, have asked that she be paid appropriately commensurate with her experience, skill, education and certification, and openly offered up their salaries to her for proof of the issue. These men are truly backing her up. But to no avail.

Another female client holds two certifications a large company had advertised as either “necessary or desired” in their ad, but offered her nearly $60,000 less than others in the organization without certifications. The one female employee she interviewed with stated she was embarrassed by the offer, but there was nothing she could do. The man (the manager) who interviewed her spent half the interview disparaging her experience and education, and then made her the insulting offer. Wouldn’t want to negatively impact that annual management bonus with a fairly paid employee, now would we? She turned them down. While she needed a job, she didn’t need that type of environment.

I thank my lucky stars every day that my parents taught me I could do anything I put my mind to, and to never accept discrimination of any type. My wonderful husband instills this same belief in me to this day. So, blessedly this has not happened to me, but it has happened to too many of my clients, and that is why I have three specialized employment attorneys that I provide as a referral when necessary.

What can we do to stop this, both men and women? First, awareness, by knowing it exists, and working to root it out. Second, ban the asking of prior and current salary. This is only used to discriminate in the salary offer phase against any potential employee, regardless of gender. A question of “salary desired” is more than enough to give a company the proper information about your pay requirements, while the interview, talking with references, and confirmation of credentials, if necessary, gives more context on appropriate pay rate. Third, perhaps employees should start getting together where they feel a gap exists, and talk about tenure, performance reviews and salary expectations within their company. It doesn’t mean that people must tell or show others what they are paid. However, it does mean where someone sees an imbalance, they make it known to the person negatively impacted (and this isn’t always women, sometimes it is a man). Fourth, ask for appropriate salary. Do your research and know what your industry pays. Be willing to turn down or leave a job that won’t pay appropriately. Lastly, some class action lawsuits may be necessary. As much as I hate the idea of litigation, sometimes it is the only way to get a lasting change.

Many a company around the country has been sued regarding job titles and their salary rates, resulting in compensation analysis and the awarding of back pay to employees. Some companies just change the job titles of employees so they can get away with low-paying of their staff, to potentially sell their company (this always looks good on the books), and/or hopefully avoid a lawsuit. This is something that impacts men and women, is the potential subject of another blog post, and is merely the reverse side of the same coin concerning inequitable salary. There is also some irony in my opening of an article this morning on TLNT.com, from EREMedia: Before You Decide Pay Raises, Do a Pay Fairness Audit by Kathleen McLeod Caminiti and Sarah Wieselthier.

Know your value and don’t be afraid to ask for more in the salary negotiation phase, regardless of what they offer you initially. If you don’t ask, you will never know if you could have gotten more money. Show them proof of salary research based on your true years of experience (not cobbled together, but actual length of unquestionably related experience – your biggest selling point). Use several of the free salary tools online to create a balanced report based on your industry, state and city, education/certifications/training, and years of experience. This includes what their company typically pays as is often provided via a Glassdoor.com search. If you feel lost in doing this type of task, or have difficulty identifying your true experience and value, contact a resume writer or career coach with experience in this area, who can help you.

Before you ever walk into an interview (or do a phone interview), you should understand the benefits you can bring to an organization, and know the bonus skills and experience you provide that might be of additional advantage. Do your research and find out everything you can in the interview about their culture. Get a tour of the facility, meet other employees and find out tenure rates (particularly in the department where you will work), and take your time, don’t be rushed into a decision. Any company that demands you accept or reject their job offer while sitting in the interview chair is a company that will treat you poorly. ASK QUESTIONS – never let an interviewer tell you to hold your questions until the end of the interview as you are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you. If you do your due diligence from the moment you start a job search, chances are, you will find a job that is satisfying, that won’t cause your heart to sink every Sunday evening, or stress you out 24/7.

In closing, money isn’t everything. If you chase it, there will never be enough. If that is all you want in your job, you will never be satisfied or happy. Besides, what we really need and what we want are often very different. You must view the whole picture, not just a part of it. Wonderful colleagues, a great boss, good benefits, a decent commute, feeling like your work makes a difference, enjoying the work you do, and being treated as a person not a “resource,” can beat a high salary any day of the week!

Categories Business Coaching, Career Coaching, Career Management, Careers, Human Resources, Interviews, Job Search
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50 Shades of Privacy

September 20th, 2019

Let’s face it, we already knew our online public data was being used for targeted marketing purposes and for public search information (both paid and free). What about data analysis for your company’s use? Are you comfortable with that potential? What if that supposed “free data” was being used to determine if you were going to leave your current company? Well, the fact is, this is currently being done, and the courts are protecting it.

LinkedIn has recently been in a legal tiff with HiQ Labs, a San Francisco-based company that analyzes free data like public LinkedIn profiles to identify the potential of employees to leave a company. Here is what HiQ says about their Keeper technology:

“Keeper is the first HCM tool to offer predictive attrition insights about an organization’s employees based on publicly available data. The solution turns those attrition insights into consumable, easy-to-deploy action plans so HR and business leaders can retain their key talent.

By identifying risk early, addressing potential issues proactively, and deploying remedial actions quickly, Keeper drives immediate business impact across organizations – and provides a built-in feedback loop so you can communicate your retention win to management.”

Both organizations have great points in their arguments presented to the courts. LinkedIn discusses an expectation of privacy for their customers. Essentially, they are stating that their clients shouldn’t have their information harvested that they entrusted to LinkedIn.

I also, have zero doubt, HiQ’s intention with their Human Resources program is as stated above. It is a great idea to determine if valuable employees might be wanting to leave, and why, then take action to retain them in an organization. And their argument that they are using data in the public realm only is absolutely correct.

What is problematic is how Corporate America will really use this technology. Just as companies troll the online world for those using Monster or Indeed for a job search, or mentioning they are unhappy with their current company on Facebook, this is yet another tool to target those that might leave with downsizings, position elimination, and dismissals (often falsified to avoid paying unemployment). Is this the fault of HiQ? No. They are merely providing a service. It does however beg the question, when is enough, enough in protection of our personal data online, public or not?

There are other issues though that might not have been put forth in this legal tussle. First, how are rankings of employees made? Red, Yellow and Green are nice, but how accurate is the data; does it look at the age of the information or how long since it has been updated? What about inaccurate data online? While HiQ would not want to give away the algorithms that detect retention issues, it is scary to think you might be putting something on your LinkedIn profile or elsewhere online in the public realm that is problematic without knowing it. You could be a person that is in no way unhappy with your current job, but an algorithm could have you targeted for termination in some form. Please do not blame a company for coming up with technology to try to stop employee loss. HiQ does offer the ability to have your data eliminated from their database, which is comforting. Still, could having your info deleted from their system be an “alert” to HR that you might be looking?

So many questions, which now in the age of AI will be even more impactful regarding privacy. I suppose this article is merely a warning, to again be careful what you communicate online. To remember that nothing you put online is private, no matter what you are told. And now, to keep your information current and without opinion regarding anything job related, lest you become the focus of unwanted attention.

Categories Business Coaching, Career Coaching, Career Exploration, Career Management, Career Transition, Careers, Human Resources, Interviews, Job Search, Opinion
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Know Your Value

July 8th, 2019

“We often don’t realize our true value until after we negotiate a salary and benefits package. Know your value, don’t just take that first offer. Show them you are multifaceted and provide cross functional experience that is worthy of a better offer. Most companies will give you more, you just need to ask.” – Karen Silins

Categories Career Coaching, Career Management, Career Transition, Careers, Interviews, Job Search
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Social Media Spammers: Why I Won’t Buy Your Stuff or Give You Free Help

May 31st, 2019

Okay, you are on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc., and you are a jobseeker, need some career advice, or are a business owner. How do you develop a relationship with someone you don’t know? Well, right now the way many are trying to develop that rapport is by spamming connections the moment we accept their invite, and often with multiple “InMails” attempting to sell us something or get free career or business help.

As a business owner, and as someone who provides help to jobseekers and business owners, I am sensitive to the need to cultivate business or garner valuable networking contacts. On the other hand, no one likes the person who just wants free help or tries to get you to buy their service or product from the get-go. The issue has become so obnoxious on the business side (people wanting to sell me products or services) that I have resorted to providing a free coaching moment or a very nice refusal via the particular social media venues InMail or messaging service. Here are the two things I say, depending on the situation:

Coaching Moment Email:

I know you are anxious to build your business or career and would like to offer you a free coaching tip to help you expand your network in a way that cultivates a relationship. I truly appreciate your inquiry but will tell you that networking is always and will always be about establishing a bond with the other party first. Networking is NEVER ABOUT YOU or your needs, but the other person. It works because you are offering them something of value that has nothing to do with your work or what you want. It’s also not an item or article you or a person you are in business with created. This “value” could be a networking contact you think might be useful to them (outside of your business partnerships), a referral, tip, hint, lead, etc., to open the door to an initial conversation, and then you can approach them after a real affinity is developed, but not until then.

Linking with someone and immediately asking for referrals, business or connections without the foundation of a relationship is no different than walking up to someone on the street and asking them for any of the above. It is the rapport that builds trust and gives a person the proper context to offer help, and it is both give and take.

While I understand the reason for the InMail, many won’t be as understanding, and it could ultimately work to alienate you instead of creating a connection. Since I coach people on how to network, I wanted to share this free tip with you. I am hoping this will assist you in building a dynamic and worthy network of connections and create a true rapport with others that could lead to your next opportunity. Best wishes and many blessings, Karen Silins

Nice Refusal:

I am very happy in my current business, and love what I do, and do not desire to increase my workload at this time. I greatly appreciate your inquiry and wish you many blessings in your business. Karen

Believe it or not, most are very kind about it or don’t respond, though we remain connected. Sometimes they even reach back out to let me know they are changing their approach. However, I did recently get a response from someone saying. “I know you are a business woman!! But I would be a jerk for not sharing this!!! Can’t you afford three minutes to help your clients, etc., etc.” Hmm, snarky and unpleasant – not going to get my positive attention that way, oh, and I disconnected from you. This whole exchange started with a common ruse of “I need your help, can I get a few moments of your time” or something similar. My colleagues and myself must respond to these requests, as it could be a person wanting to discuss services or just has a very quick question that we can help them with, but too frequently it is a spammer. Nevertheless, the initial trick of needing my help is not an introduction to do business. No relationship has been developed.

Remember, the acceptance of a connection is not an tacit invitation to start asking people to help you without formation of at least an initial rapport. Immediately sending out an article, white paper, software trial, etc., that you, your friend or business upline/connection authored is not a proper way to cultivate a client either. The resource or other help you provide must always be external to what you want to sell or the advice you seek. Furthermore, the initial contact email or InMail saying you are looking to connect with “like-minded” coaches, business owners, or wanting to learn more about my business, etc., is not a relationship builder either, it’s just spam if all you want to do is sell them something.

Know that wanting help or business immediately and for free from a new contact is improper and will definitely get you uninvited/unfriended from many a social media connection. Finally, please consider that you are taking people’s valuable time when you ask them to read your marketing email or want help, but in no way want to repay them for the help. Furthermore, the supposed “I will pay you later after I get a new job or you just have to see this business venture I am offering you,” is not a payment. In most cases you are chasing away leads and losing links to others because many of my colleagues, clients and acquaintances just delete you. That is no way to run a business or a job search. Help yourself by helping others first, and be of value, it will result in your business and/or career thriving!

Categories Business Coaching, Career Management, Careers, Job Search, Networking, Opinion
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Why You Should Still Give Notice

January 14th, 2019

I just read articles on LinkedIn and again in the HR Executive magazine last week, stating that giving notice to an employer is becoming somewhat passé. Really, hmmm. Politeness is lacking enough in our society, and now employees are becoming so numb to simple courtesy that they can’t give a two-week notice. I can hear it now, but Karen, they don’t treat me well, or my new job starts in a week and they didn’t want me to give as much notice, or they will send me home when I give notice anyway. And…., you can still act like an adult and give notice. I am sorry if that seems harsh, but if you think that behavior is appropriate, I guarantee it will come back on you at some point.

Let’s take the employer who wants you to give limited or no notice to your current employer because they need you to start next week. Do you really think that employer will give a damn about you and your needs, ever, if they are that disrespectful of other employers and your reputation? You are just biding your time at that company until a manager fires you for no reason or downsizes you.

Consider the employer who you feel doesn’t treat you well. Now, like an impertinent child this is how you get back at them. No, instead you go on Glassdoor and tell the truth about your experience, without using words like mean and unfair, and instead talk about the lack of pay or too many hours of overtime, limited or no benefits, etc., but make sure your complaint is true and not just something you didn’t like, When you leave the company however, you still show you are a class act, and give formal two-week notice.

The last one I posited above concerning employers that often don’t let their employees complete the two weeks still doesn’t let you off the hook. You can just let your new employer know that frequently your current and soon to be past employer won’t let employees giving notice stay in order to protect confidential information and avoid office drama and theft. Trust me, they understand.

Have I ever said to someone “don’t give two-weeks of notice?” Yes, I have, and that was due to the potential of retribution by the employer, and there was proof of that retribution before with other employees. The notice was not withheld to be rude or because my client was lacking common courtesy. Unless the former is the case, a formal two-week letter of notice is always recommended.

Accordingly, have I always given a two-week notice – YES, and then some with one exception. Every summer during college I always let them know at the beginning of the time I started with them when I would leave and reminded them a month prior. When I started working in the full-time corporate world the jobs received one month, and the last one, three months prior to my leaving. I respected my bosses enough to give them time to find someone to fill my spot and still give me a little time to train them. The only job for which I did not give notice was one where everyone smoked indoors (this was before the law changed) and due to my asthma and the problems I started having health-wise my physician essentially demanded I quit the day of an appointment. I had a discussion with my manager and the owner and let them know why, had a doctor’s letter with his request they call with any questions, and everyone seemed satisfied this was the best choice for my health. They wrote me a wonderful Letter of Recommendation despite my only being there a very short time.

I realize it can be hard to stay in a place you don’t care for, with a boss that might be difficult to work with, or coworkers that are unprofessional, but it will only be for two weeks and then you can leave with your head held high. Furthermore, you don’t get a reputation for leaving employers in a lurch, something that can follow you, especially within an industry.

Take the high road, give formal notice of two weeks to every employer. This isn’t about how they handle it, it’s about you and your career!

Karen Silins is a multi-certified, award winning resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses. After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm. Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers, executives and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals. She keeps current regarding trends in the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, executive/career management coaching, consulting for small businesses in business plan development, marketing, blogging, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 30-70+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area. She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.

Categories Career Management, Careers, Job Search
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A Worthy New Year’s Resolution: Invest in YOU!

December 26th, 2018

Now is the time we all make that New Year’s resolutions list. My question to you is how often list includes investing in your personal and professional development? I’m not talking about buying yourself a present or an espresso, losing weight, exercising more, or the myriad of typical resolutions. I mean true investment in your career and life? While many in the workforce claim they want this benefit from an organization they work for, when offered it is often not utilized unless companies force the issue and require training. This article is to steer you towards investing in yourself for 2019.

Just like you lose money and essentially work for free a part of each day if your company offers a 401K with a match and you do not take advantage of the “free money,” the same goes for personal and professional development. From taking a cooking or photography course to Business Writing, Microsoft Excel or Stephen Covey’s Seven Habit’s course, you gain insight into you, learn something new, expand personal or professional horizons, and, if professional development, bolster career potential, possibly preserving your job in difficult times.

So, do I follow this rule. Yes, I practice what I preach and hold 17 separate certifications, take several webcasts annually, and I am about to hold gain another certification. Do I advertise all of them? No, as many are antiquated and no longer apply, but I do certainly maintain several of them, and look to strengthen my skillset when possible with new training. Before you think, wow, she is addicted to training. I have been in business over 19 years and some of the certifications took six to eight weeks and some six months, so I don’t spend all my time obtaining them. I do however understand several things very important to coaching. One, I must realize I don’t have all the answers. Two, I must be willing to constantly challenge myself and learn new techniques, assessment types, ways of viewing a client issue, etc. Third, I must be willing to be coached and critiqued if I am to be an effective coach and writer to others. This means professional and personal development and having a coach. Soon, I will be participating in a mastermind group, and look forward to seeing how that might strengthen my business as well. Of course, that will probably prompt another article.

Where do I find the time? Well, to put it simply, I make the time, and so can you. We choose what we make time for in our lives. I will give you a couple of examples of friends who do this effectively. I have a friend who has four children, all very engaged in a variety of school and personal activities, she takes care of an elderly relative in her home, has a husband who works a great deal of overtime, works a full-time job herself, and is going to back to school to get her masters. Oh, and by the way, she is setting the grade curve in all her classes with her awesomeness. I am, needless to say, truly proud of her. Where does she get the time? She decided to make the time.

The second friend is a business woman, has two young children, a husband who runs his own successful business, is highly involved in volunteer activities, and she trains others in her business as well. Both ladies are more than full time, and both make it work because they made a decision.

We are the “excusitis” crowd in this day and age (yes, I made up the word), a multi-generational group constantly saying we don’t have time. Yet, we watch too much television, sit on iPhones and digital devices wasting hours of time, and run ourselves (and our children) ragged with excess activities we have no need to do. Whether it is just hard for you to say no to something or you are someone who simply cannot have downtime, you have created this situation! Stop saying you don’t have time for something as important as your career and personal development. Make time, it will pay huge dividends. That television show you miss, phone or digital device time you give up, or extra activity you should never have said yes to in the first place will not suffer, but if you don’t make time to improve yourself, your life and career will be impaired.

So, I ask, will you make the decision/resolution to create a little extra time in your schedule to be a better you in 2019, both in your career and personal life? To paraphrase a popular commercial – are you worth it?

Karen Silins is a multi-certified, award winning resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses. After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm. Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers, executives and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals. She keeps current regarding trends in the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, executive/career management coaching, consulting for small businesses in business plan development, marketing, blogging, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 30-70+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area. She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.

Categories Business Coaching, Career Management, Career Transition, Careers, Job Search
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Get a Clue Corporate America!

October 4th, 2018

With the recent spate of executives merging, acquiring, downsizing and closing companies for their own financial benefit, and often under the guise of “cost savings synergies,” it’s quite apparent that ethical leadership training is more necessary than ever. Justifying their behavior because they think that “those lowly employees we have on staff” will find a job since it is a good economy is ridiculous and foolhardy. Their lack of compassion and foresight will ultimately mean more dissatisfied employees and an increase in those thinking Corporate America is devoid of any principles. No wonder our workforce is overworked and over-stressed!

While the economy is indeed in good shape, replacing a high-paying job isn’t always that easy. The more the salary, typically the fewer of those jobs that exist. The worry that goes along with the constantly unsettled environment in many companies merely makes everything worse. Companies are actually complaining because attrition rates are so high due to the stress and uncertainty, but offer nothing to stop the bleeding. According to many a recent article, employees are actually up and quitting jobs now without another one ready in the wings due to the anxiety-ridden atmosphere of so many organizations. Additionally, those over 40 years of age continue to be a target, since they often “make too much.” The real discrimination in age comes from the downsizing of so many that are inherently valuable to a company due to their experience and mentoring of younger employees. Yet, that very value is seen as too expensive or “bad for the bottom line.”

Many a high paid corporate executive has sold their soul and become like the Robber Barron’s of the 1890’s, using questionable methods, nepotism, and creating monopolies to accumulate wealth while leaving staff members miserable or unemployed. We, as a society, have passively acquiesced to this treatment and it is time we stop putting up with the abuse. Certainly ample ethical leadership training will help those who are starting on their leadership journey. However, making sure those that are currently causing these problems have a bright light of shame shone on them will be necessary to curb the issues in the here and now. Get a clue Corporate America or you won’t have a glowing financial report to fret over anymore, talented employees will just leave you and your company in the dust, and ultimately to fail.

Karen Silins is a multi-certified, award winning resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses. After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm. Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers, executives and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals. She keeps current regarding trends in the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, executive/career management coaching, consulting for small businesses in business plan development, marketing, blogging, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 30-70+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area. She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.

Categories Career Management, Careers, Human Resources, Job Search, Opinion, Talent Management
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