thecareerbeat.com Blog

How much do plumbers make?

The man known as Joe the Plumber has made news recently after he asked Sen. Barack Obama about his possible tax policy if he becomes president.

In the coverage there was some confusion about how much someone like Joe the Plumber actually makes in a year. I’m certainly curious about it. Fortunately some writers at PayScale.com looked into it.

According to the article “‘Joe the Plumber’ and Middle-Class Paychecks,” plumbers in Ohio (where Joe lives) make an average salary of $47,500 per year. Top-earners in that category make $81K.

The article also discusses the nebulous problem of defining “middle class.” In some parts of the country you can make a six-figure salary and still consider yourself middle class, whereas others would call you rich.

But it does seem fair to say that people who make $250K or more per year are among the top earners in this country. And cutting their taxes is not on Obama’s agenda (nor should it be).

Santa’s back, making serious coin!

Earlier this week the country was shocked to learn that a mall Santa had been laid off (see earlier post, “Sign of the times”). Outcry over the news has reportedly forced Tysons Corner Center, one of the biggest malls in the Washington, D.C. area, to reconsider.

Michael Graham, who had played Santa there for 18 years, reached an agreement with the mall to get his job back, according to the Associated Press. The surprise in the article, however, is that Graham makes $175 per hour as Santa!

That hourly wage is 10 times the going rate, AP reports. Where is the Professional Santa Claus Impersonators Association to comment on this?

Of course, being Santa can be hard work: The outfit is hot, the kids can be bratty and demanding, and their parents even more so. But if you’re good — and all accounts suggest that Michael Graham excels in the job — it could be the best seasonal job around that doesn’t require much training.

Even year-round full-time contractors (with degrees) don’t make close to that kind of hourly wage. Contract recruiters in California make between $80 and $100 per hour, depending on years of experience, according to Bob Hancock, senior recruiter at Electronic Arts.

“I don’t know anyone in my profession who makes $175 an hour, but then again,” adds Hancock, “we do not require candidates to sit on anyone’s lap during an interview!”

If you’re on a quest for a high-paying seasonal job, get busy! For some helpful hints, read this outlook on holiday hiring.

The talented Mr. Graham may still be a bargain for the mall, as they have averted a PR nightmare and a possible boycott that would have scrooged holiday earnings.

Sign of the times: Santa loses job

You know things are bad when a mall Santa loses his job for no good reason.

The Washington Post reports today that Michael Graham, who has played Santa at Tysons Corner Center for 18 years, has not been invited back this year. However, he reportedly has a contract through 2012.

He was so good at his job that Southern Living Magazine wrote: “Yes, Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus. His name is Mike Graham.”

The news comes amid many reports of impending layoffs because of the economic recession and credit crisis. Many companies are also scaling back or canceling their holiday parties this year.

Depressing as all this news is, don’t go crying in your egg nog — especially if you’re looking for a job. (Or a new career, in the case of a few would-be Santas.) Brush up on tips for keeping your spirits up during a job search. It could help boost your holiday cheer, too.

Poll: Boss isn’t doing so well

Last week included National Boss Day, and Yahoo! HotJobs polled its users about their bosses’ performance. It looks like most people don’t think the boss is doing a very good job.

Q	Do you think your boss does his or her job well?
Yes	32%
No	68%
7216 Votes to date

For more good resources about dealing with a boss and improving your relations with the boss, see last week’s post about being compatible with your boss.

More job-interview lessons from the election

A new article draws some interesting lessons from this election for job-seekers who are preparing for interviews.

The do’s and don’ts are quite helpful, without a hint of partisanship. I’m most intrigued by one that recommends that you keep your answers to two minutes, following a similar rule from the debates. Of course, the candidates aren’t always good at keeping their responses to two minutes. But job-interviewees should.

Interviewers can only take in so much information at a time, and they’ll want you to get to the point quickly. I know I’ve had my eyes glaze over as an interviewer when the candidate just kept talking. Of course, the two-minute rule isn’t completely literal, but it’s a good guideline. If you practice some answers before your interview, you’ll be surprised how easily it is to fill that span of time.

For more on the election’s relevance for job seekers, see my post on “gotcha” interview questions and the article “What the Election Means for Your Career.”

Are you compatible with your boss?

Now is the time of year when we think about bosses. Did you get your boss a card for National Boss Day (Oct. 16)?

The relationship you have with your boss is really important; he or she holds the power to your paycheck. So it’s worth taking some time to assess your compatibility and identify ways you can make the relationship better.

In the article “Are You and Your Boss Compatible?” you will find some good tips for figuring out basics about your boss’s personality and then adjusting your style to work better with him or her.

For example, your boss may be a Dreamer: someone who inspires with enthusiasm but whose head is in the clouds. You may need to bump up your skills in grounding a grand vision to reality, and then setting deliverables and timely goals. Complementing your boss’s strengths in this way is not only a good learning experience for you, but a potentially good move for advancing on the job.

On the other hand, you may want to learn “How to Steal Your Boss’s Job.” In any case, it’s always a good idea to master the “10 Habits that Bosses Love.”

Better boss: Barack Obama

Adecco USA released an interesting survey today about how people feel about their bosses. (National Boss Day is Oct. 16.)

The survey asked employed working adults which presidential candidate would make a better boss, and 54% of respondents gave the nod to Sen. Barack Obama. McCain got 46%.

People value a variety of different qualities in a boss, so it’s hard to pinpoint what drove the result. But if I had been asked the question, I would have also favored Obama. He conveys authority but also seems approachable, and he strikes me as a better communicator than McCain. Good communication skills, in my opinion, are one of the biggest hallmarks of a good boss.

But maybe we’ll see something different from them in the debate later this week.

Read more about the survey at Adecco USA.

How to dress for success

Looking professional and dressing appropriately for work have become a little more difficult with the business-casual workplace.

I am very thankful for business-casual dress codes (or even no dress codes — which is more the case with my employer), but they can blur concepts of what’s appropriate.

There’s some trusty advice in “The Rules of Workplace Style,” a new Yahoo! HotJobs article that offers fashion pointers to men and women. If you want to be taken seriously, one expert advises staying away from three no-no’s: flip-flops, jeans, and visible tattoos.

The jeans prohibition rankles me a bit. But when in doubt, save the jeans for “casual Fridays.” Don’t let a fashion faux pas hurt your career advancement!

P.S. I should also point out that Banana Republic has an ad on that HotJobs article that offers a 20% discount. Nice incentive for updating the work wardrobe.

No relief in the unemployment numbers

While the country waits to see what will happen with the bailout bill in Congress, today the government released sobering unemployment statistics for September.

The unemployment rate held steady at 6.1 percent. Last month the economy lost jobs in construction, manufacturing and retail, but added jobs in health care (no surprise there) and mining.

The unchanged rate won’t do much to ease people’s anxiety about their job security. In the most recent Yahoo! HotJobs site poll, 60% of respondents said they were “extremely worried” that the current U.S. economic crisis is a direct threat to their jobs.

Q	How worried are you that the U.S. financial crisis is a direct threat to your job?
Extremely	60%
Modestly	20%
Barely	8%
Not at all	12%
5612 Votes to date

Bright side: At least the unemployment rate didn’t rise.

‘Gotcha’ interview questions?

Many years ago, when I was being interviewed for an editorial job at PR Newswire, my future boss asked me about how I got my news. She was interested to know what newspapers and magazines I read, what TV shows I watched.

The question was an ice-breaker of sorts, but I realized later it’s a great question for a job interview. How and whether you “consume” news says a lot about you. I’ve used the question ever since as an interviewer.

But when vice presidential hopeful Gov. Sarah Palin was recently asked the same question by Katie Couric for CBS News, she couldn’t name specific newspapers or magazines. (Why not at LEAST plug the local Alaska paper?) A similar blunder occurred when Palin was asked to name another Supreme Court decision (besides Roe v. Wade) she disagreed with.

The McCain-Palin campaign is now bemoaning these instances as unfair journalism. Really?? Watch the clips (available at cbsnews.com). Couric was quite gentle in her delivery, and asking for specifics is an example of her doing her job.

And since Americans largely doesn’t know Gov. Palin, it’s not a stretch for us to view this interview (one of the few she has granted since being named to the Republican ticket) as a job interview. Being vice president is a job — a very important job. A softball question about newspapers and a more substantive question about Supreme Court decisions are items that the American public, as the “hiring manager” in this case, are entitled to know about as they evaluate this extremely important decision.

Suffice it to say that so far Palin has given good examples of what NOT to do in a job interview. I hope for her sake she does better in the debate.

On a related note, read “Job-Hunt Lessons from the Campaign Trail,” for more corollaries.