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Myths about dream jobs

Everybody wants a dream job. But, like the characters in this funny video, most people’s ideas of dream jobs are fantasies.

dream job video clip

Really, who wouldn’t want to be a hand model?!

A helpful new article on Yahoo! HotJobs debunks five myths about dream jobs. It even suggests that the statement, “There is no such thing as a dream job” is a myth.

Hmmm, maybe one day I will get to be a talk-show host.  Here’s to dreaming!

Changing your looks to get a job

A majority of job seekers this year have changed something about their physical appearance in order to impress employers, according to an online poll.

The respondents in the Yahoo! HotJobs poll made changes in several areas:

• Clothing style: 11%
• Lost weight: 13%
• Hair style and/or color: 12%
• Face (Makeup, teeth whitening, Botox): 4%
• Two or more of the above: 19%
• Nothing: 41%

Some might consider these appearance-changers to be shallow or insecure, but maybe they recognize that “don’t judge a book by its cover” isn’t in the playbook of most hiring managers.

In fact, changing aspects of your appearance can be a very smart move. Experts say that most hiring decisions are made within 10 minutes, so the first impression is everything.

If you look too old or too young for the job — and you think it might be a distraction for your interviewer — try some inexpensive changes to your hairstyle or wardrobe so that it will be easier to focus on your achievements in the interview.

As executive image consultant Anna Soo Wildermuth says in her book “Change One Thing”: “Your change doesn’t have to be dramatic. It might mean sacrificing something you love, but it is guaranteed to make a difference in your life.”

Some folks will always go too far, but the lines are blurry. I may think men in their 40s paying big bucks for Botox and liposuction is too extreme, but tomorrow some newly hired, newly svelte CFO might call it his wisest investment this year (as he laughs in my face).

If you’ve been job-hunting for months with no results, maybe changing one aspect of your appearance could help your confidence, if not your career path.

For more related tips, see the following:

• Using Your Looks for Career Success
• The First 10 Minutes Are Top Priority
• 5 Threats to Your Job-Hunting Stamina

Bosses’ reputations get no help with recession

Friday is National Boss Day (Oct. 16), but most workers probably won’t be celebrating, if recent polls are any indication.

A recent Yahoo! HotJobs weekly poll found that 69% of respondents don’t think their bosses are doing a good job.  That figure is essentially unchanged from last year, when 68% said the same thing.

Q	Do you think your boss does his or her job well?
A	Yes 31% No 69% 6845 Votes to date

Last week, results of a five-year comparative survey took a similar toll on the overall reputation of bosses, comparing many of them to bratty toddlers.

The study monitored traits of bosses, as perceived by 345 white-collar workers. Between 2004 and 2009, the number of respondents who rated their bosses “self-oriented” or “interruptive” rose 50%.  The research was conducted by author Lynn Taylor, CEO of Lynn Taylor Consulting.

Maybe the best thing about the “holiday” this year is that it happens on a Friday.

‘Unreality TV’ that distorts job duties and pay

When I began my career in journalism, I secretly hoped to find a newsroom that resembled the one on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”

The camaraderie with coworkers, the breaking-news excitement, and the pleasant communal atmosphere seemed so attractive. And though I knew nothing about the show was real, I still longed for a similar sense of fun and purpose.

Today I wonder how many budding police detectives feel the same about “The Closer” or magazine editors about “Ugly Betty.”

PayScale.com has done some interesting research on how these and other popular shows distort the realities (often unflattering) of certain careers. My favorite is the analysis of “Ugly Betty,” where junior staffers at the fashion mag Mode live lifestyles that aren’t possible on real starting salaries in New York.

Also, PayScale took a fascinating look at “Mad Men” and how the fictional salaries of the various characters stack up against today’s advertising professionals.

Of course we don’t watch sitcoms for guidance in our professional lives, but who can help wishing? If you want TV with accuracy about the working world, try “Dirty Jobs.”

Common interview surprise: illegal questions

More than half of job seekers have been asked an illegal question during a job interview.

That eye-opener comes from a Yahoo! HotJobs online poll, in which 62% of respondents reported being on the receiving end of a question about a verboten topic, such as one’s religion or marital status. Almost a third (32%) had not been asked such a question, and 7% said they didn’t know.

The numbers surprised me and several of my colleagues, so it’s worth reviewing what’s permissible and not.  Interviewers are not allowed to ask about:

• Your age
• Your race or ethnic background
• Gender or sex
• Marital status
• Country of national origin or birthplace
• Whether you have children (or plan to)

If you find yourself being asked a question you believe may be illegal, you can handle it in a variety of ways.

You can answer the question. This option may work if you’re not offended by the question and you really want the job.

You can tactfully point out that the question is illegal. Your interviewer may not even know that he or she has crossed a line. However, you also run the risk of putting your interviewer on the defensive, which won’t work in your favor.

You can side-step the question and bridge to something relevant.  Respond with something like: “I’m sorry, but I don’t think that is pertinent to the job we’re discussing, but I can tell you about [insert segue topic here].”

Avoid letting loose with indignation — unless you really don’t want the job and want to make an unpleasant scene.

Check out these three articles for more tips:

• How to Handle Illegal Interview Questions
• Using Tact With a Rude Interviewer
• When Interviewers Attack!

On the lighter side, check out one of the funniest depictions of an interview with illegal questions: It’s in the first episode of the “Mary Tyler Moore Show.” (You can fast-forward to minute 6 to get the interview scene.)  She tries a combination of the above three tactics, with hilarious results. What a classic!

For lasting salary damage, get hired in a recession

New grads entering the job market have come to expect that during touch economic times — like the present — they may have to settle for a lower salary to get a job. But that flexibility may result in income damage that could take nearly 20 years to overcome, according to new research.

A Depressing Discovery

By equating salaries for new hires to the unemployment rate, a Yale professor calculates that students who graduate during a downturn earn 6-8% less in their first year for each percentage-point increase in the unemployment rate.

That means a 1982 graduate entering the job market when unemployment stood at 10.8% earned, on average, 23% less than a 1981 grad who entered the job market when the jobless rate was 7.5%, according to the blog Daily Finance.

The research, conducted by Lisa Kahn, assistant professor of economics at the Yale School of Management, suggests that the disadvantage may take years to overcome. For example, new hires during a recession may be more reluctant to look for another job, which could bring a salary bump.

“Over 17 years after college those groups have a $100,000 difference in earnings,” Kahn said.

What about the Class of 2009?

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) just released a list of the top jobs (with salaries) for the Class of 2009. The big news was the emergence of teaching in the top spot.

The top five positions and starting salaries are: teaching ($35,496), management trainee ($41,353), financial/treasury analysis ($52,043), consulting ($56,472), sales ($41,577).

2009 marked the first time in several years that the public sector landed the top spot. And public sector jobs generally pay less than those in the private sector, as NACE’s executive director Marilyn Mackes said.

No surprise: the NACE press release also noted that the average starting salary for new college graduates fell this year. The average starting salary offer for a 2009 bachelor’s degree recipient is $48,633. That comes in at 1.2% less than the $49,224 average offer extended to members of the Class of 2008.

A Broader Perspective

Does this mean new grads are financially screwed for the next decade compared to their peers who are a year older?  Maybe — if you consider Kahn’s research in a vacuum.  But plenty of other factors play into the mix of anyone’s career and salary trajectories.

The Yale salary-comparison research offers a valuable piece of data, but — like the national unemployment rate — it’s not an absolute for every worker.

Kahn herself offers a great piece of advice in the Daily Finance interview: “Don’t accept the status quo.”

For more helpful resources on this salary issue, see these articles:

• Will the Recession Deflate Your Income Forever?
• 4 Types of Pay Cuts, and What You Can Do About Them
• Do You Dare Ask for a Raise in This Economy?

Testimony: Anti-gay bias persists in government workplaces

Workplace discrimination for LGBT employees is just as common in state and local governments as in the private sector, according to testimony delivered in Congress today.

Brad Sears, executive director of the Williams Institute for Sexual Orientation Law & Public Policy, made the observations as part of hearing on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009. He cited a study — the most comprehensive to date, according to the Williams Institute — that reviewed discrimination against LGBT people in the public sector.

A few other findings:

* One in five LGBT public sector employees has experienced workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation according to a 2008 study; a 2009 study found that 13% had reported such discrimination in the past year alone.

* A persistent and significant wage gap exists between heterosexual and LGBT employees. For example, government LGBT employees earn wages that are 8-29% lower than their heterosexual counterparts.

“This is exactly the kind of data that was presented to support passage of earlier civil rights legislation,” Sears said in a prepared statement, “and Congress should act now to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.”

For more on today’s hearing, see this AP news article.

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Video: some trends in the job market now

Here is a clip of my appearance on “Money for Breakfast” on the Fox Business Network. We have some discussion about some job-market trends now that aren’t all that hopeful…

Tom Musbach on Fox Business

I am hoping that this post handles the video link well. This will also be my last appearance on the show, which will stop airing next week.

(Now I need to figure out photo spacing issues on this blog.  Note to self!)

I was happy that we had recently done a poll on Yahoo! HotJobs about working overseas, otherwise I would have been pretty stumped by the question from Alexis! I was definitely thinking, “Phew!”

Overused office buzzwords: the list grows

I recently wrote an article about the most annoying and overused terms in the workplace, and readers have been commenting with new words to add to the list.

The basis for the article was a survey by Accountemps, in which 150 senior executives identified the problem words and phrases (e.g. “leverage,” “circle back”). But here’s 10 more they missed, according to Yahoo! HotJobs readers:

• Stakeholder
• Heads up
• Mission critical
• Bandwidth
• Touch base
• In the loop
• Low-hanging fruit
• Moving forward
• At the end of the day
• On the same page

The disdain for so many of the buzzwords runs deep, and I’m surprised by the large number of offending terms. My favorite comment: “How is it that “touch base” didn’t make the cut? That’s an insipid office phrase that’s been going around for years.” (Great word — “insipid”!)

The sad thing is that I use so many of these phrases, particularly in work settings. (Except “low-hanging fruit,” which has always distracted me. Maybe  because it’s so descriptive?) And now I get self-conscious every time I use one of these, so I’m updating my vocabulary when possible.

But it’s important to remember the perspective that Liz Bywater provided while I was researching the article:

“There’s nothing inherently wrong with having a set of terms, a common lexicon, by which people in a given field or industry can easily communicate. This is essentially what business buzzwords are — a set of terms that are readily understood in the corporate environment. When used properly and in context, these buzzwords serve as a sort of linguistic shorthand. When overused or misused, however, buzzwords can overshadow or even distort the overall communication. Using too many buzzwords can lessen an individual’s credibility as an independent, intelligent, creative thinker. At worst, it can make him look like a wishy-washy wannabe.”

I can’t resist: At the end of the day, it is what it is. But keeping everyone on the same page is always a value-add.

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Objectives on resumes are popular, poll says

Starting a resume with an “objective” statement is more prevalent than I expected. Results of the latest Yahoo! HotJobs poll show that nearly 3 in 5 job seekers use them.

Poll Results

Q What is the first major content section of your resume (after your contact info)? An “objective” statement 59% A “summary” statement 20% My most recent job details 21% 4445 Votes to date

Maybe I’m a little surprised because I don’t use an objective statement on my resume. I remember a few recruiters offering some good reasons why to skip it.

But it’s obviously an unsettled area. Check out these articles for more insights:

• Recruiter Roundtable: Objectives on Resumes
• Who Needs an Objective Statement?
• Great Resume Beginnings: Objective or Summary?