Goliathjobs.com Blog

The Wall Street Journal and GoliathJobs, The “Generation Jobless” Series

GoliathJobs — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:39:02 +0000

The Toll on Parents When Kids Return Home

By JOANN S. LUBLIN, The Wall Street Journal

Many young adults find themselves still tethered to the Bank of Mom and Dad, and that dependence is taking a toll.

Kevin Davis moved back home last December after receiving a business finance degree from the University of North Carolina. He has yet to land a full-time job. The 25-year-old often commiserates with his father, John, an information-technology professional who was laid off as a project manager in October 2010 for the second time since 2007. “At times, it’s hard for me to keep up my own spirits as well as Kevin’s,” admits John Davis, a resident of Winston-Salem, N.C., who currently receives unemployment insurance.

About Generation Jobless

Americans 25 and under face one of the toughest job markets in modern history. This week, The Wall Street Journal explores their stories

As recent college graduates scramble to find full-time jobs, numerous parents are helping their children pay bills or letting them live at home again. About 59% of parents provide or recently provided financial assistance to children aged 18 to 39 who weren’t students, concluded a May survey of nearly 1,100 people by the National Endowment for Financial Education.

According to Census data, 5.9 million Americans between 25 and 34 years of age—nearly a quarter of whom have bachelor’s degrees—live with their parents, a significant increase from 4.7 million before the recession.

But many parents can’t afford the extra expense. A full 26% of those polled by the nonprofit group took on more debt to help their offspring, 13% delayed a planned life event such as a home purchase, and 7% postponed retirement.

Young Men Feel Job-Market Pain

Compounding the problem is the fact that certain parents are crowding the younger generation out of the job market because their support of their grown kids means they can’t afford to retire.

Kevin, a licensed pilot with aspirations to run an airport, says he knows someone more than twice his age who beat him for an airport managerial post this summer because the older man had more experience.

The strain of joblessness and continued financial support for Kevin—which his father estimates costs $300 a month, or 18% of the family’s living expenses—have exhausted his parents’ savings and forced the 61-year-old Mr. Davis and his wife, Donna, a 54-year-old teacher’s assistant, to start spending money from their retirement accounts.

“Short of winning the lottery, I don’t know when I will be able to retire,” says Mr. Davis. And he says his wife “probably will never retire.”

“If the economy remains weak, you may see more parents sacrificing their financial health for their struggling adult offspring,” warns NEFE President Ted Beck.

Personal trainer Debra Jacobson shares her Jupiter, Fla., home with two adult daughters and a teenaged one.

From College Major to Career

The 60-year-old divorced mother says she can’t afford home insurance or health coverage “because I am supporting these three daughters with food and a roof over their heads.” She figures that costs around $600 a month.

Faith, 23, has split her time between her mom’s and dad’s residences since she graduated in August 2010 with a communications degree from the University of South Florida. She is trying to repay about $23,000 in college debt with the money she earns as a part-time bartender. She yearns to be a TV journalist or professional singer, but “there aren’t many opportunities here,” she says.

Her older sister, Jackie, who is 26 and teaches part-time, owes about $60,000 on the loans she took out to get her mechanical-engineering and math degrees. “I feel like a burden” she says of living with her mother. “What is there to be proud of?”

Bank of Mom and Dad?

Experts’ tips for parents helping to support their grown children post-college:

Suggest they take a low-status job outside their chosen profession or unpaid internship in their field.
Set an expiration date for your extensive financial aid.
Teach them savvy networking tactics.
Reach out to your circle of contacts for job leads.
Practice tough love for offspring living with you again, spelling out jobhunting goals, household chores and limits on recreational use of your car.

Ms. Jacobson, meanwhile, says she regrets that Faith and Jackie had to borrow so heavily for college. As parents, she says, “our job was to pay for their education. They should not have debts they can’t pay.”

Young graduates’ protracted dependency can be emotionally draining, too. “Parents feel upset when their adult child can’t get the kind of job that he or she wanted because they raised them to believe ‘you can do anything you want,’” says Cliff Zukin, a Rutgers University professor of public policy and political science.

Some worried mothers and fathers have become closely involved in the employment searches of their adult offspring.

“Parents want to get on with their own lives” and regain the privacy they have lost from sharing their empty nest with grown offspring, says Damian Birkel, founder of Professionals in Transition, a support group in Winston-Salem.

So far this year, staffers at GoliathJobs.com, which operates free websites for college students and boomers, have counseled more than 2,500 parents seeking job-hunting help for their kids right before or after their children graduated, reports founder David Mezzapelle. That’s up from 150 calls in 2007.

Read the entire article by clicking here.

Age-Proofing Your Job Application, Wall Street Journal

GoliathJobs — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 20:50:05 +0000

by Michele O’Connor

Click here for a great article from the Career Advice column at the Wall Street Journal

About GoliathJobs & JobsOver50:
GoliathJobs.com is a free web-based employment service for students & alumni. We connect job seekers to employers via schools, alma maters and civic organizations throughout North America. This model delivers a competitive edge to job seekers and high-quality results to employers. 100% spam-free. The #1 Job Site on the Web!

JobsOver50.com is a dedicated employment portal for baby boomers & retirees built on the same platform.

…a Goliath Company

For Entrepreneurs, Disaster Brings Eureka - Wall Street Journal

GoliathJobs — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 17:54:50 +0000

By Jennifer Porter

Hurricanes and Flooding Inspire New Business Opportunities: Diaper-Like Sandbags and Light-Duty Floodgates.

For some entrepreneurs, Mother Nature is also the mother of invention. From floodgates for homeowners to “diapers” for absorbing storm waters, they’ve come up with ways to tackle the problems brought on by tornados and other major events—including, of course, Hurricane Irene.

Click here to read the rest of this great article.

JobsOver50.com is a dedicated employment portal for baby boomers & retirees built on the same platform.

…a Goliath Company

David Mezzapelle On WGUL 860 AM Tampa, Boomer Nation!

GoliathJobs — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:01:59 +0000

April 26, 2011

Listen By Clicking Here
Boomer Nation! WGUL 860 AM Tampa with Special Guest…

David Mezzapelle, Founder, JobsOver50.com

Presents “Get a Job”
JobsOver50.com is the largest and most powerful job portal for Baby Boomers & Retirees in the nation. And David has a brain full of both career and job-search ideas for us, and with Boomers being the age group that’s having the hardest time finding a new job after the massive lay-offs of the Great Recession, his advice is most welcome. If you’re one of them, or you know someone who is, make sure you tune in.

And, as always our special guest will be playing the Boomer Trivia Contest….find out if David is as magnificent with mindless minutia as he is with enabling employment!

Listen by Clicking Here!

JobsOver50.com is a dedicated employment portal for baby boomers & retirees built on the same platform.

…a Goliath-SilverCensus Company

Featured Employer - Westport Finance

GoliathJobs — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 17:23:48 +0000

by Michele O’Connor

GoliathJobs is proud to announce that Westport Finance is the newest featured employer.

Westport Finance is an independent financial services firm that guides high net worth families and businesses in all areas of financial management.

See all their jobs by visiting GoliathJobs.com and entering the keyword “Westport” or the JOB ID below in the Job Search field. You can also search the same on JobsOver50.com as well.

24196 401K/Annuity Administrator Westport, Connecticut
24195 Associate Wealth Advisor Westport, Connecticut
24194 Life/Disability/Long Term Care Insurance Underwriter & Policy Service Administrator Westport, Connecticut

JobsOver50.com is a dedicated employment portal for baby boomers & retirees built on the same platform.

…a Goliath-SilverCensus Company

Featured Employers - Mystery Shop, Inc. and Patterson Capital Corporation

GoliathJobs — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 21:42:15 +0000

by Michele O’Connor

GoliathJobs is proud to announce that Mystery Shop, Inc. and Patterson Capital Corporation are the newest featured employers.

Mystery shopping might be something you’ve heard of before, and perhaps you know a bit about it. Mystery shopping involves a professional who anonymously visits your business as a customer. This professional analyzes the performance of your employees as well as the facility, and the analysis is all based on your custom criteria. Mystery shopping professionals then deliver a precise customer satisfaction report, something we call a written mystery shopping report. Mystery shopping is used by a wide variety of industries because it gives management a clear, impartial look at the current service status. Learn more at http://www.mysteryshopinc.com.

See all their jobs by visiting GoliathJobs.com and entering the keyword “Mystery” or the JOB ID in the Job Search field. You can also search the same on JobsOver50.com as well.
24200 Mystery Shopper/Data Collector/Accounts Receivable Clerk New York City, New York, United States
24199 Mystery Shopper/Data Collector/Accounts Receivable Clerk Reardan, Washington, United States

Patterson Capital Corp is an independently owned boutique investment advisory firm in Los Angeles California focused exclusively on the discretionary management of fixed income portfolios. Learn more at http://pattersoncapital.com.

See all their jobs by visiting GoliathJobs.com and entering the keyword “Patterson” or the JOB ID in the Job Search field. You can also search the same on JobsOver50.com as well.
24203 Marketing Support Los Angeles, California, United States
24202 Portfolio Administrator/Operations and Settlements Los Angeles, California, United States

JobsOver50.com is a dedicated employment portal for baby boomers & retirees built on the same platform.

…a Goliath-SilverCensus Company

Would you rather work in London or Shanghai? New York or Los Angeles? Tell Us What You Think!

GoliathJobs — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 19:07:38 +0000

by Michele O’Connor

Would you rather work in London or Shanghai? New York or Los Angeles?

Do you prefer a higher salary or more vacation days?

Tell us what you think! www.universumsurvey.com/usss/2011

Every year hundreds of Fortune 500 companies use Universum’s data to find out how to attract the most talented student. Universum gets that data by surveying over 400,000 students at the best universities all across the world.

Your opinions are extremely important and valuable sources of information for employers looking to hire talent in the United States. Top companies, including many that recruit your university’s students, base their recruiting strategies on Universum’s research. Thus, it will truly benefit you and others on your campus to share your opinions on recruiting and employers. The survey is completely anonymous and companies will only see the collective results.

Check out what else you get just for taking the survey:
 A WetFeet Insider Guide: Networking Works! (Value: $22)
 Entered to win a Universum Scholarship worth $1,000 or $500
 A Chance to win a $5,200 IEM Study Abroad Internship Scholarship for Shanghai, China
 Exclusive access to Jullien Gordon’s One Day Resume eCourse
 Make a donation to a charity of your choice: UNICEF, Breast Cancer Research or The Center for Biological Diversity
 Ensure that both your future employers & university understands your career expectations, goals and ambitions.
 Get answers to important career questions immediately after participation through our new application Springboardr.com. All results are based on how you filled in the 2011 Universum Student Survey! You will get exclusive membership to Springboardr.com, an application that helps you discover, follow and connect with your ideal employers.

Take the survey now at:
www.universumsurvey.com/usss/2011

Thank you very much for your participation!

JobsOver50.com is a dedicated employment portal for baby boomers & retirees built on the same platform.

…a Goliath-SilverCensus Company

15 Best Practices for Engaging Boomers and Seniors in Today’s New Digital Ecosystem

GoliathJobs — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 20:17:24 +0000

by Martin Diano

Note: The following is an excerpt from “Boomer StrataGEMS™ ── Tools, Technologies, and Techniques,” an eGuidebook and resource listing for using social media and digital technology to engage Baby Boomers and Seniors.

An amazing convergence is happening in mature marketing today: the growth of the Baby Boomer population and the growth of digital media. Baby Boomers increasingly use the Internet to keep in touch with family and friends, anywhere in the world. They search for product information. They compare prices, print coupons, and shop online.

Thus, as the social web continues to rapidly evolve, it is prompting us to establish policies, best practices, and guidelines on how we should engage Boomers and Seniors in online conversation. But we also need to define the “rules of engagement.” How will you encourage thoughtful and meaningful interaction as it benefits your business, brand, customers, peers, and prospects at every touch point?

Here are 15 best practices to help you craft a practical set of rules as you engage with Baby Boomers and Seniors in the new digital ecosystem:

1. Discover all relevant Boomer and Senior communities of interest and observe the choices, challenges, impressions, and wants of the people within each network (In part, the objective of Boomer StrataGEMS™ is to present and comprehensive community listing, including links to each site.)

2. Actively participate where your presence is most advantageous, not just anywhere and everywhere. (Do you really want to be on MySpace, when conversing with people on Eons or Facebook is more productive?)

3. Determine the identity, character, and personality of your brand and match it to the persona of the individuals you want to converse with online

4. Establish a point of contact who is ultimately responsible for identifying and responding to all things that can affect brand perception

5. As in customer service, representatives require training to learn how to proactively and reactively respond across multiple scenarios. Don’t just put the person who is most familiar with social networking in front of your brand

6. Embody the attributes you wish to portray and instill in Boomers and Seniors. Operate by a self-imposed code of conduct

7. Observe the behavioral cultures within each online community and group and adjust your outreach accordingly

8. Become a true participant in each social media outpost you wish to reside. Move beyond marketing and sales pitches. Provide meaningful value- added dialogue.

9. Don’t speak to audiences through canned messages! Contribute value, insight and direction through each engagement

10. Be proactive. Don’t just listen and placate! Be viewed as a “Thought Leader”

11. Consistently create, contribute, and reinforce your brand’s value proposition

12. Earn community connections through collaboration and empower advocacy

13. Don’t get lost in translation. Ensure your communication and intent is clear and that your involvement maps to the objectives you have created for your brand

14. Establish and nurture beneficial relationships online and in the real world as long as doing so is important to the growth of your business. Be wary of time wasters.

15. Give something back! Reciprocate and recognize noteworthy contributions from participants in your communities

About Martin Diano
Martin is a member of the board of advisors of JobsOver50.com. He is a thought leader in helping Baby Boomers use social media to find, access, and consume high-value content. He is CEO of Boomer Authority Association and Publisher of the Baby Boomer [Knowledge Center]. Martin also is publisher of Boomer StrataGEMS ─ Tools, Technologies and Techniques, a new eGuidebook for utilizing social media and digital technology to engage Baby Boomers and Seniors.

JobsOver50.com is a dedicated employment portal for baby boomers & retirees built on the same platform.

Discover Your Ideal Employers and Let Your Voice Be Heard!

GoliathJobs — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 21:36:47 +0000

by Michele O’Connor

Would you rather work in London or Shanghai? New York or Los Angeles?

Do you prefer a higher salary or more vacation days?

Tell us what you think! Visit www.universumsurvey.com/usss/2011

Check out what else you get just for taking the survey.
 A WetFeet Insider Guide: Networking Works! (Value: $22)
 Entered to win a Universum Scholarship worth $1,000 or $500
 A Chance to win a $5,200 IEM Study Abroad Internship Scholarship for Shanghai, China
 Exclusive access to Jullien Gordon’s One Day Resume eCourse
 Make a donation to a charity of your choice: UNICEF, Breast Cancer Research or The Center for Biological Diversity
 Ensure that both your future employers & university understands your career expectations, goals and ambitions.
 Get answers to important career questions immediately after participation through our new application Springboardr.com. All results are based on how you filled in the 2011 Universum Student Survey! You will get exclusive membership to Springboardr.com, an application that helps you discover, follow and connect with your ideal employers.

Take the survey now at: http://www.universumsurvey.com/usss/2011

Thank you very much for your participation!

JobsOver50.com is a dedicated employment portal for baby boomers & retirees built on the same platform.

…a Goliath-SilverCensus Company

Finding Your Inner Artist - Wall Street Journal

GoliathJobs — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 20:12:56 +0000

by Michele O’Connor

A great article and powerful motivator that recently appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

Leaving the workplace behind can help spark new talents—and new careers. Read the entire article by clicking here.

JobsOver50.com is a dedicated employment portal for baby boomers & retirees built on the same platform.

…a Goliath-SilverCensus Company