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Home » topics » Your career

Your work honeymoon is over: What now?

September 22, 2022 by

By Lynne Curry The job that was so exciting when you landed it now bores you. A year ago, you would have joined the throngs of employees exiting their employers in the Great Resignation. Now you hesitate. What if media accounts about the looming recession result in any shiny new job you accept evaporating within months if you’re laid off as “last hired, first let go”? Maybe you need to hunker down, and breathe new life back into a job that’s more secure, even if it has grown stale. Except—can you? Or will you have as much success as when you pour water on dehydrated food on a camping trip, and it still doesn’t taste fresh? If you’re caught in this bind, what’s happened to you is predictable and you… . . . read more

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HIRING

College…no longer the golden ticket for employers or employees

September 8, 2022 by

By Lynne Curry College was once the “golden ticket” to the American Dream of greater job security and higher lifetime wages. In the last decade, however, college enrollments have declined. According to a recent Harris poll, 51% of U.S. adults report that skyrocketing college costs have decreased their ability to pursue a post-high school education.1 Although 62% of U.S. employees 25 or older lack a college degree, some employers still use the college degree as gatekeeper when assessing which candidate to hire or promote.2 Does this work any longer, or are employers missing out on skilled employees with talent and drive because the best potential hires lacked the time and money to attend college? No longer the only path Some employers, perhaps forced by the Great Resignation to seek out formerly… . . . read more

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YOUR CAREER

Recession fears: Here’s how to avoid being laid off & what to do if you are

August 11, 2022 by

By Lynne Curry After months of talent wars triggered by the great resignation, the job market has again shifted, with business growth slowing and recession fears looming. Despite low unemployment rates, 3.5% nationally,1 over 60 percent of the 750 CEOs surveyed by the business research firm Conference Board expect a recession in the next 12 to 18 months1. Another 15 percent of surveyed CEOs report their region is already in recession.1 Multiple employers that bet large on a post-pandemic boom have transitioned to layoff status. Re/Max slashed 17% of its national workforce. Peloton, Carvana, Ford and Better have each laid off thousands of employees. Walmart, Wells Fargo, 7-Eleven, Shopify, Netflix, and JPMorgan have all cut large numbers of jobs.3, 4 The number of #OpentoWork banners on LinkedIn profiles have hit levels not… . . . read more

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HIRING

Jobs in law top pre-Great Recession numbers

July 27, 2022 by

The U.S. legal services sector now has more total jobs than it had when the count hit its previous high point in 2007 shortly before the Great Recession, according to U.S. Labor Department data as reported by Reuters. The legal sector added 3,000 jobs in June, reaching a total of 1,185,600, the preliminary seasonally adjusted Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed. This exceeds the historic high of 1,179,500 jobs the sector reached in May 2007, according to BLS data. The legal services job count includes lawyers, paralegals and other legal professionals. BLS legal sector jobs data is available stretching back to 1990. Newly revised data for May 2022 also shows the sector cracked its previous 2007 record that month, with a total of 1,182,600 legal sector jobs. The May 2022… . . . read more

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TOOL

Love contracts: Help for hot messes

July 15, 2022 by

They arrive at work separately. They never touch each other in your presence. Then, as you chair a meeting, you see his gray eyes seek hers out across the conference table. She returns his gaze; her eyes linger. Suddenly you know. The senior manager, despite all the sexual harassment seminars he’s attended, appears romantically intertwined with an accounting clerk. If you’re in charge, how do you handle this hot mess?  The reality Some managers and supervisors would never have an affair with an employee they oversee or an employee in their company. Others consider the workplace a dating pond in which they fish. Still others fall into a relationship that makes them disregard risks. According to a recent survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, one in three U.S…. . . . read more

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LEADERSHIP

5 ways to help your team members overcome burnout

July 15, 2022 by

The last couple of years have been rough on everyone in the workplace, including law offices. Many suffered burnout early in the pandemic; others held it all together until now when they are  quietly falling apart. Chances are someone on your team has had enough of the pressures from work, family, finances, the public health emergency and other turmoil in society. As a manager, you want to help. Here are four ideas to get you started: Help organize and prioritize work into manageable and clear expectations. These changes can help rebuild energy over time and aid in recovery. Develop a practical strategy to support an employee who may be experiencing burnout. As part of any plan, ask the employee how best to recognize their successes and victories. This could include immediate and… . . . read more

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RISK MANAGEMENT

How to handle the office romance 2022 version

July 15, 2022 by

By Lynne Curry Three potential hot messes. In company Z, a senior manager considered his workplace a dating pool in which he fished. When he put the moves on a new female employee, the workplace grapevine ignited. In company Y, the head of marketing had serial crushes on one after another of the male management trainees. Because she was attractive and personable, several of them developed crushes in return. One put the moves on her when they worked all weekend on a project. In company X, the Chief Operating Office and Chief Financial Officer had a not-so-secret affair. Although he hated to, the Chief Executive Officer called them into his office and said, “One of you needs to resign. Unless this happens, we’ll have no defense if we fire someone… . . . read more

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HIRING

Do you make this costly interviewing mistake?

July 13, 2022 by

Don’t focus a job interview on whether the candidate can do the job. The purpose of an interview is not to evaluate hard skills or job experience or training. Anybody who makes it to the interview already meets the requirements. Look instead for the behaviors of the person. The interview is the time to find out the motivators, the personality, and the soft skills of self management, organization, and the ability to solve problems and work as part of a team. Digging past the pre-fab answers Standard interview procedure is to spend the first half hour telling about the office and how great the job is. It’s a sales pitch, and it’s a waste of time. The applicant already wants the job. That’s why that person is there in the… . . . read more

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YOUR CAREER

How job hunting changed: You have leverage you never had before

June 29, 2022 by

By Lynne Curry Question: I left a senior position in a large practice when the pandemic and four children at home forced me out of the workforce. At first, my now ex-husband and I thought I’d take a month off, get the kids settled and return to on-site work. But COVID-19 dragged on, and I couldn’t see leaving the kids at home to fend for themselves while I returned to 10-hour workdays. Then, my personal life turned upside down. Now, I need to return to work. I dread it. I want a job, but no longer want to be a superwoman who can handle a high-profile, high-stress career and still parent. I need “normal.” Forty, maybe 45 hours a week is all I’m willing to give, maybe more if an… . . . read more

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MANAGING THE OFFICE

4 day workweek: Is it in your future?

June 26, 2022 by

By Lynne Curry If you’re an employee, you’re immediately interested. If you’re an employer, you’re doubtful—yet you keep hearing about this new strategy that might make a significant difference in your company’s ability to survive and thrive. It’s the four-day workweek, though not the compressed 4/10’s workweek that oil patch and similar companies used. Employers adopting this four-day workweek ask each employee to work 8.5 hours four days a week, providing them full salaries for 34 rather than 40 hours weekly. Forty U.S. and Canadian employers are trying out this strategy in a pilot program run by 4 Day Week Global.1 Another 32 U.S. employers have adopted it.2 The concept asks employees to maintain 100% productivity for 100% of their pay while working only 80% of the time. It requires employees… . . . read more

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