15,000 and counting

Thanks for continuing to make our blog popular! 15,000 visitors and counting...

We start off with the Wall Street Journal's Career Journal with an article about finding a position as a mature job hunter (and conversely, HR professionals should think about how to seek out these candidates): click here

Also from the Journal we have an article on a consultant beefing up his resume (click here ) and a CEO's recipe for fresh ideas: click here

Lastly, GM is offering employees early retirement to cut salaried jobs by 15% as told by the Baltimore Sun: click here

(another post coming up a bit later...)

How Much Is It Worth?

So the Washington Post gave us the idea that the value of a college degree was declining: click here

But the Wall Street Journal says that if that college degree is covered with Ivy, then the value goes up, especially for the starting salaries: click here

In other news...from the Baltimore Sun word about state funds that are being used to boost the YouthWorks program: click here

And the Wall Street Journal has an article today on record jobless claims data that came out: click here

Craigslist and The Rest of the List

Among the social networking and various online websites designed to attract job seekers and job posters alike, Craigslist, a website that is more well-know for selling tickets or finding apartments has become a go-to source according to the Wall Street Journal: click here

Personally, I think Craigslist has some advantages and some limitations for both job seekers and job posters, but it is an excellent site to use for posting an open position. It may not be as aesthetically pleasing as Monster or have the name of Careerbuilder or have the social networking opportunities of a Facebook or provide easy searchability like the New York Times jobs website...but with its growing audience and ease of use, it may be the place to be for Human Resource professionals and people looking for jobs in this difficult job market...

From the Boston Globe's Boston.com Monster.com Hiring Hub HR Center HR Blog (seriously, we like to give credit to the articles we post, but can they make this a little simpler?), despite a title that may seem to indicate a different subject, the New York Times admits that women don't just opt out for children: click here

Lastly, an interesting article from the Baltimore Sun on one jail's pre-professional/apprenticeship program: click here

Podcasting!!!

Adding to our Web 2.0 personality here at Astron Solutions, we have our first podcast courtesy of Workforce Management about managing the unpredictability of talent in today's world: click here

From the Business Wire, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) will be surveying presidential candidates on key workforce issues: click here

Also, make sure to check out some other podcasts on Daxle's website of business podcasts...some good stuff there: click here

Lastly, the Baltimore Sun's "On the Job" has an article about sick and vacation days all being in the same bank: click here

And since we decided we needed some representation between New York and DC, we're adding the feed of the Baltimore Sun's career section on the right...

Sick? Work From Home

I finally caught it.

I felt like I was in a horror movie being chased by the killer the past few months as I'd seen colleagues, family and friends go down with the winter bug. I'd done everything to avoid it from quarantining myself from the sick, to loading up on Orange Juice and Airborne, to washing my hands with Purell.

But I got sick anyways. And when it hit it wasn't a mild cold or a virus, but a nasty infection.

Many have to make the choice in this situation whether to go to work or stay home. Many, according to a CBS News report from 2005 (click here), choose to go into work--something called presenteeism:

Although it's done out of job dedication in many cases, it really doesn't help to have an employee in the office who is spreading an infection to others, in addition to not being able to work as well due to their own illness. Some experts say presenteeism can actually result in a greater loss of productivity than absenteeism.

I chose absenteeism, or staying home from work. But instead of making it a sick day off. I've parlayed my days off into opportunities to telecommute. We've talked a lot in this blog about telecommuting, but this seems to be one of the cases where it truly does seem to work.

Although the source (Telecommute Connecticut) may be a little biased in this article (click here), this passage from Jen Jorgenson, a spokesperson for the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) is important to note:

Companies may want to encourage telecommuting rather than have employees come in to the office and use their computers to get work done and infect everyone else around them, Jorgenson said employees who telecommute when sick can continue to be productive without making others sick.

If you're having a hard time figuring out if you're too sick to go to work, this Medicenet article that was a feature on WebMD, can help you figure it out: click here

The New York Times (click here), Baltimore Sun (click here), and Asbury Park Press (click here) all give the same message: if you're sick, stay home!

Human Resources can have a role in this by encouraging employees to work from home when sick instead of stressing on them coming in and fighting through it while spreading the germs and giving them access to things like laptop computers and VPN access so that they can access all their files from home.

And this issue is not just a United States one...sick days cost British businesses £ 34 billion according to this article by the Daily Mail: click here

Thirty nine per cent of workers say they are completely bored when they have to take time off sick, and wish they were back at work.


Wouldn't it be better to take those bored workers and give them something to do when they are home?