Archive for June, 2009
New Job Postings
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
Calling all members of The Untapped Workforce! Are you looking for work? If not, there’s a good chance you know someone who is. I invite you to check out the recently updated career center at hirepotential.com.
HirePotential, Inc., the leader in integrating and employing The Untapped Workforce, is a gold mine of resources for veterans, mature workers, people with disabilities and members of special niches who are seeking temporary or long-term positions.
You can search current job postings and apply online for positions in customer service, engineering, information technology, finance or administration. Perform a keyword search or submit your résumé for general consideration. Browse current job postings and search by location and category for direct hire, project-based or project-to-hire positions. Save wear and tear on your nerves and the environment by searching for current openings within a 5-mile radius of your zip code.
On their website, HirePotential recently posted direct hire opportunities for case analysts and a case manager at a client’s facility near LAX in Los Angeles. The case manager oversees the case analysts who support clients as they navigate the Social Security disability process. Case analysts answer questions, help complete pre-hearing claim forms and mentor clients to better understand the procedures involved in the application process. Visit hirepotential.com for complete job descriptions, required skills and other qualifications.
If you don’t find job opportunities that meet your search criteria, you can save your searches and have emails sent when postings are a match for you. While you’re visiting the site, explore the other employment resources, including career coaching. I’m honored to be listed there as a referral source for people who are experiencing a midlife transition. Let’s get started with a complimentary coaching session to see if we’re a match.
No Free Lunch
Friday, June 19th, 2009
Any woman who waits for her knight in shining armor will find herself cleaning up after his horse.
This was a poster during the height of the feminist movement. While humorous, it does contain a kernel of truth. There really is no such thing as a free lunch. Today, men and women concerned about their investment portfolios are flocking to so-called free seminars in search of The Holy Grail. Some veterans of the old timeshare courtship rituals are hip to the process and know there’s going to be a pitch. Yet many seniors and other less sophisticated investors are snared by slick marketing and fancy hotel lunches when they can least afford it.
During these hard times, financial predators are coming out of the woodwork. In an effort to stop these cockroaches dead in their tracks, AARP is recruiting people to put an end to misleading "free lunch" investment seminars. Similar to retail mystery shopper programs, AARP created a free lunch monitor checklist. The form tracks numerous issues including the presenter’s credentials, implied endorsements and guarantees of low risk or high rates of return. Seminar attendees take the checklist to events, rate the presentation, and return the form to AARP which then shares it with securities regulators.
Not everyone who offers a free seminar is a scammer. Anyone in sales (and if you’re in business, you’re in sales) knows about the marketing funnel or pipeline. We’ve memorized the mantra that, "People do business with people they know, like and trust." I routinely register for free teleseminars and I do so hoping that I will learn some valuable information. I sign up fully expecting to get a pitch about a product or an upcoming paid workshop. But paying someone $97 for a workshop is a far cry from entrusting someone with my life savings.
There are many honest financial professionals who put the needs of their clients before their own. They offer seminars to educate prospects and to begin to nurture a relationship. But if the person in the front of the room is offering you pie in the sky, remember that there is no such thing as a free lunch. To be a free lunch monitor, visit aarp.org/nofreelunch or call 1-888-OUR-AARP.
Blast from the Past
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
Several years ago, my dearly beloved and I were cruising down a pastoral lane on our fall foliage tour. Suddenly, I started shouting, "Stop the car."
We were not having an emergency. I had just discovered that one of my favorite places really did exist on the physical plane. Yes, Virginia, there really is a Vermont Country Store. For years, I have ordered from their folksy catalog. Stumbling upon the real store was like reaching The Emerald City.
The Vermont Country Store has been lovingly run by the Orton family for four generations. Purveyors of the practical and the hard-to-find, they carry everything from clothing, linens and housewares to health and beauty aids. Along with manual typewriters, cassette recorders, hand-held slide viewers and record players, there’s a Tried and True section of "long-time favorite products that just plain work." Treat your taste buds to jams and jellies in flavors like beach plum, elderberry and quince. Savor the taste of Vermont maple syrup or rum cake. You can also find homeopathic formulas for health and beauty and old-time fragrances like Wind Song, Jungle Gardenia or Heaven Sent.
The Vermont Country Store prints a Customer Bill of Rights in their catalog. In Aging Well: Conversations with Our Customers, they explore the culture of aging. The current issue celebrates the joys of grandparenthood.
The Vermont Country Store opened its doors in 1946, the year the first baby boomer was born. If like me, you’re on the brink of 60, why not throw a party with a 60s theme? You can serve party favors like Walnettos, Necco Wafers or rainbow candies. Send your guests home with goodie bags filled with 60s swag like Chicklets, Beemans, Black Jack or Clove gum. Now you know where to find them. You can order from the catalog, shop online at vermontcountrystore.com or, if you’re really lucky, wander through the brick and mortar stores in Weston and Rockingham, VT.
Reading the Vermont Country Store catalog is my tranquil time-out from the Internet and social networking whirl. It’s like a blast from the past, a past that was warm and comforting like mashed potatoes or macaroni and cheese. How do you invoke feelings of warmth, security and comfort in the midst of life’s frenetic pace?
May Newsletter
Thursday, June 4th, 2009If you missed our May newsletter, you can read the archived version by clicking here.