Movin' On Up

Jobs After Jail

More than 650,000 people in the U.S. are released from prison every year. After serving their time, they face many obstacles including finding a job. Many who have served time struggle finding employment because of their criminal record. Even an arrest for a felony not resulting in a conviction stays on record and can cause trouble for someone who wants to start their career.

It can feel like those trying to enter the job market after serving time are constantly being re-punished. It may be a challenge, but it’s a challenge you can overcome. Here are some tips on how to pick yourself back up, build up confidence, and re-enter the job market.

Understand Your Current Situation

It’s important to know what options are available in your job search. Before you start looking for a job, take the time to research what jobs are open to you. You might not be eligible for some jobs due to statutory prohibitions.

For instance, if a job requires earning a license, some felonies or convictions disqualify you from getting those licenses and therefore disqualifies you from jobs like being teachers, physicians, real estate agents, or attorneys. Another example would be if you were, if being on parole or probation resulting from a drug-related crime, it’s possible that you may not be allowed to work in a pharmacy.

Take the time to consult with administrators related to your case like a counselor, judge, or parole officer to help you make an informed decision on what direction to take your job search.

Bottoms Up

It’s a hard truth, but you might have to take a job starting at the bottom of the barrel. On the bright side, the only place to go is up.

If offered a low paying job, ask if there are opportunities for pay increases after proving your value to the company. With some hard work and after developing leadership skills, you can eventually earn a higher pay rate. After several months of earning experience, you can start looking for something better. But, try to stay with the same employer for as long as possible. It helps strengthen your résumé and makes you look reliable to potential employers.

Out in the Open

Your gut instinct might be to hide your criminal record, but you should learn how to honestly discuss it with potential employers. On job applications, when you get to the section asking if you have been convicted of a crime, consider putting “please let me discuss this with you when we meet,” after checking the “yes” option.

Work on confidently getting the point across in interviews that you have paid your debt, put that part of your life behind you, and are working to become a better person. It’s not easy, but you are a different person. With lots of practice, you can build self-confidence and prove that you have taken responsibility for your actions and are ready to move on.

You’re Not Alone

Don’t underestimate the benefits of going to a staffing agency. Not only will the staffing company be helpful in finding long-term employment, but choosing to go with temporary jobs can help build valuable skills to help make you more marketable to employers.

Look into your community programs. Some offer training programs that, upon finishing certain requirements, may guarantee interviews with local companies. Talk to social service workers, counselors, or probation officers to see what options are available in your area.

There are several online resources for you to take advantage of when looking for work after serving time. Try visiting the Legal Action Center, National H.I.R.E. Network, Project Footprints, and The Women’s Prison Association to help connect with others, information, and helpful resources that can help you make a career after prison.

Do you Love Your Job? Take Our Poll

It’s February, and Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. To help celebrate the holiday of love, we’d like to know how you would treat your employer on Valentine’s Day. Tell us in the poll below.

I Know What You Tweeted Last Summer, Can Social Media Harm Your Job Search?

Social media has become an amazing tool millions of people use every day to meet, connect, and stay in touch with each other all over the world. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ help their users express themselves and meet like-minded individuals to share their thoughts and passions to build communities like never before.

They are also tools for potential employers to get a better picture of who you are outside of the interview or résumé. According to a recent survey conducted by the recruiting and applicant tracking software company Jobvite, 90% of employers will refer to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin before making a hire. Many employers feel that whatever you do in your normal social life will reflect in your work life. With the newest Facebook Timeline feature, it will be even easier for companies to see posts from your crazy college days, outbursts from teenage angst, or outrageous decisions as a young adult from two or three years ago. Here are some ways social media may keep you from getting hired and how to avoid it.

Trash Talkin’

Any vicious or ill-tempered comments you make on your social media sites can make you look bad. These are reflections on you as a person outside of the job interview where you are actively trying to put your best foot forward and impress.

One of the most famous examples of this is the “Cisco Fatty” incident in 2009. Job seeker, Connor Riley was offered a position with consumer electronics company Cisco. Later that day, Riley posted the on her Twitter account:

 

“Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work.”

 

Soon, a manager at Cisco found the tweet in a search and responded:

 

“Who is the hiring manager. I’m sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web.”

 

Needless to say, her job offer was soon withdrawn. Be careful when posting your thoughts and opinions online no matter what frame of mind you’re in at the time. You never know who is reading it. A safe bet is if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything.

Picture Postin’

Pictures are great ways to highlight the best memories from your past. They can also be proof of some of the most unprofessional and embarrassing moments in your life. What you do in your free time reflects the kind of person you are. Potential employers will not see you as a reliable, serious candidate if your profiles are littered with party and prank photos. You might also want to avoid showcasing your record number of tattoos or piercings if looking for a job with a lot of face-to-face and direct business meetings.

Go Googlin’

Have you ever typed your name into Google and searched yourself? What do you think you’ll find? You should search your name regularly during your job hunt to see what pops up. If you want to use your profiles for silly pictures and rants, set your profiles to private. It won’t keep everything from those looking for you, it will help. If you want your name to appear more professional, sign up for several other professional social networking sites like Ziggs, Ecademy, or Networking for Professionals, The more your name is out there producing positive content, the more good things will show up on Google.

Some employers really do use online profiles to help make hiring decisions. Online image company Reppler reports almost 65% of employers say they have passed on prospective hires after taking a look at their social profiles. What have you done to help boost your professional image online?

How Will you Get a Job in 2012? Take Our Poll

The hiring outlook for 2012 remains cautiously optimistic, according to the New York Daily News. With 1.3 million jobs expected to be created, what will your plan be to get hired in the new year? Let us know in the poll below.

Smart Phone Apps for a Smarter Job Search

In a job market that is becoming increasingly competitive, having an advantage is crucial to finding a job quickly. The job market is constantly changing and seekers have to be ready for opportunities at a moment’s notice. To be successful, more job chasers need their professional networks and materials when at home or on the go.

With current hiring trends evolving, technology can easily give you access to social networks, job listings, and powerful tools to help you stay connected to people and opportunities with the push of a button. Smart phones are becoming more common every day and can be a powerful source when looking for a job. Here are some apps for your phone that can better prepare you for your job search and give you the upper hand on the competition.

 Refresh That Résumé

• Resume App: (iTunes®)Resume App will help you design, build, and create a custom and professional looking résumé in a PDF format that you can send to potential employers from your phone.
• Pocket Resume: (iTunes)(Android™) Pocket Resume is one of the best-selling résumé apps on the market. It uses a unique PDF rendering technology to create professional résumés that can be updated and emailed from your phone.

Never Stop Networking

• SnapDat Digital Business Cards:(iTunes) SnapDat is an amazing app on the iPhone® that allows you to create custom digital business cards. You can create unlimited business cards that are fully customizable that can be emailed to a potential employer or new contact.
• Business Card Reader: (iTunes)(Android) Business card readers allow you to scan a new contact’s number and automatically put their information in your phone’s address book. This way you’ll never have to search your house looking for a contact’s email or worry about finding a phone number when you’re not at home.
• BeKnown: (iTunes)(Android) BeKnown, powered by Monster.com, is a professional networking app on Facebook. Catch the buzz by easily tapping into new professional opportunities anywhere, anytime, by staying on top of what your professional contacts are doing while meeting new ones.

Find Those Jobs

• JobCompass: (iTunes)(Android) JobCompass uses your phone’s GPS to find available job openings in your area. It also gives you job descriptions and allows you to apply directly through your phone.
• JobAware: (iTunes) JobAware searches for jobs in your area, tracks your progress through the application process, offers salary comparisons for several occupations, and integrates with your LinkedIn account to get updates and advice from your network and career professionals.
• Jobs – by CareerBuilder: (iTunes)(Android) With the CareerBuilder app, you can instantly search one of the largest job opening websites in the U.S., easily and straight from your phone for free.
• Monster.com Jobs: (iTunes)(Android) The Monster Job Search app lets you access your Monster account while on the go so you can apply to the latest job openings from your mobile device no matter where you are.

Interview Improvement

• What Color is your Parachute?:(iTunes) An app based on the best-selling job hunting guide, “What Color is Your Parachute?” gives insightful tips on how to stand out, nail the interview, and land the job.
• Interview Pro: (iTunes) Interview Pro provides more than 80 job interview questions and answers ranging from communication skills to team dynamics.
• Interview Buzz Pro: (iTunes)(Android) Interview Buzz Pro not only provides more than 300 questions and answers to prepare you for your next interview, but it also offers additional features like instructions on how to tie a necktie and the option to add comments to interview questions to help you prepare.

When looking for a job, we all want a leg up on the competition. Sometimes, you may not know when a job opportunity arises, or you’re away from your home or computer. The next time you need your résumé or professional information in a hurry, you’ll be prepared for it. What are some apps that have helped you in your job search?

Heavyweight Debate: PDF vs. Word Résumés

You’ve decided what style of résumé you need, you’ve got it written, and you’ve taken it through a résumé boot camp. You’re ready to start applying. With more companies requesting digital copies of your résumé, you may be wrestling with what format to choose.

The great format debate has been raging for more than six years, and job seekers and HR professionals are still split down the middle. In this corner, applicants are sold on the stability and security of having an Adobe PDF résumé. And, in this corner, Employers and HR professionals are standing firm on the ease and efficiency of the Microsoft Word résumé.

Word Documents: The Current Heavyweight Champion

Most HR professionals who go through résumés prefer receiving them in a Word document. The vast majority of businesses have Word on their computers and employees are accustomed to the program. They like being able to easily copy and paste the information and send résumés, with the personal information excluded, to their employers. The drawback is that what your résumé looks like on your screen, may not be what it looks like on another computer. There are several versions of Word, and some older versions may not be able to read files saved in newer formats. Sending Word files with the .doc file extension instead of the newer .docx are less safe and have been known to pass viruses.

The People’s Champion: PDF

Having a résumé as a PDF will keep the formatting of your résumé the same on anyone’s computer, whether it’s a Mac, Linux, or PC. PDFs are also more secure than Word files, which means they can’t easily be doctored or changed. Unlike Word documents, it’s very hard to put a virus or dangerous software on a PDF file. Adobe, the company that created the PDF format, has free software that enables computers to read them, and most computers already have the software installed. Microsoft Word has the option to save files in PDF format as well. For these reasons, many prefer to have their résumés in PDF format.

The Lightning Round

Opinion on the debate seems like an even tie, but there is one factor you should consider before deciding which format to choose. Economic times still aren’t the best, and companies are still seeing a huge influx of résumés every day. More companies are using software called applicant tracking systems that systematize and choose résumés based on key words the company dictates. According to a Bersin and Associates Talent Acquisition Systems report, about 61% of North American companies have some sort of applicant tracking software.

There are about 55 different applicant tracking systems being used. Even to this day, very few can read PDF files. While these systems are getting better, it’s still a long shot before the majority of systems start reading PDFs. Your résumés may be safe, secure, and structured, but it won’t matter if your content can’t be read.

And The Winner is…

If you’ve networked with someone and they would like to see your résumé, you may want to go ahead and send the PDF. A professional who has taken interest in hiring you will appreciate the sleek format and structure of your résumé that you spent so long perfecting. If you are applying to a big company with an automated online application site, try using the Word file to ensure the automated system reads your accomplishments. You may want to paste your résumé into Notepad or WordPad and save it as a .txt file. That way, you are guaranteed the programs will pick up on your keywords.

Where do you stand on the debate? Do you agree with this strategy? What would you do to improve the situation? Sound off in our comments. I’d love to hear what you have to say.

 

By Jared Cole

National Staffing Employee Week: A Great Time to Say Thanks

National Staffing Employee Week just began and with it comes a time of appreciation for the 2.5 million men and women who make up the temporary and contract workforce in the United States. Many may think that only a small percentage of U.S. workers are temporary or contract workers. However, according to the American Staffing Association (ASA), 9.7 million workers are hired by U.S. staffing firms during the course of a year.

The Benefits of Being a Temporary Worker         

Being employed by a staffing company can provide flexibility that otherwise might not be available in an average full- or part-time position. It is reported by ASA that 88% of staffing employees said temporary or contract work made them more employable. And, 77% said it was a good way to obtain a full-time position. With this flexibility comes an alleviation of stress and an increase in career satisfaction that may not be possible in a traditional job.

In honor of National Staffing Employee Week, Express holds a contest to select the Express Associate of the Year and to find a truly remarkable associate to nominate to ASA for the 2012 National Staffing Employee of the Year. These associates are selected from nominations submitted by our 550 locations and are chosen based on the staffing industry’s 5 key messages.

Associate of the Year - April Birch

“I had a hard time finding work when I was laid off, but Express helped me find a job in just a few days. But they didn’t just help me find a job, they helped me build my clerical skills. My experience at Express has taught me to focus on what I want from life. Now I’m going back to school to get my degree in education.”

— April Birch

 

First Runner-Up - Jamal Al Ameri

 

“I can’t thank Express enough for finding me work using my mechanical experience. This opportunity allows me to bring the remaining members of my family to this country and for us to live a life not otherwise possible.”

— Jamal Al Ameri

 

 

 Second Runner-Up -Colleen Horr

“Since joining Express more than 5 years ago, I have referred many associates and clients to the Plymouth Express office because the office staff makes you feel like a valuable part of the Express family. I am now currently employed full-time through the efforts of the Express Plymouth team.”

— Colleen Horr

 

 

2011 National Staffing Employee of the Year Nominee - Michael Coleman

 

“Thanks to Express, I got a new start.”

 

 

— Michael Coleman

 

 

So, whether you are employed by a staffing firm or considering pursuing a new career path, take this week as a moment to take pride in the integral part you play in not only furthering your career, but also building a stronger economy. We salute your hard work and dedication.

 

By Mike Smith

Is Employee Morale Getting Better or Worse? You Tell Us

Employee morale took a big hit during the recession when workers faced difficult pay freezes, layoffs, and cutbacks. Downsizing forced remaining employees to take on heavier workloads, all of which as impacted employee morale further still.

But with the economy seeing some improvement, employers are now taking steps to improve employee engagement and morale to help keep their top talent from job hopping in 2011. Whether it’s reinstating benefits or offering pay raises, employers have made some strides in the first quarter of this year to reengage their workforce.

So we want to know,

poll by twiigs.com

Five Ways to Beat the Winter Blues

 
It’s winter and chances are you may feel less energetic than usual. Shorter days with less sunlight, coupled with the season’s characteristically inclement weather, may have you reaching for sweat pants and flannel sheets, comfort food, and the remote control.

The weather outside may be frightful, but the recession’s climate of uncertainty can also make for a bleak forecast. Coupled with job and financial stress this year, the usual winter blues may be magnified for some with headlines that are hard to ignore.

Unemployment has remained steady throughout the past year as companies have cut their workforce to operate with minimal staff. Research conducted by Express Employment Professionals found that 68% of employed survey respondents feel that their workload has increased, with 49% also reporting higher stress levels.

Whether you’re looking for a job or feeling stressed in your current position, here are some ways to stay positive this winter and throughout the new year:

Stay engaged with lifelong learning: Whether it’s through a local college or just your local library, pursue an interest with an evening class or seminar. You’ll have something to look forward to a few nights each week and the experience can help spark creativity, an attribute that’s highly sought in professionals.

Get some exercise – with a friend: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that winter weight gain averages four to six pounds. Make plans with a friend to take a brisk winter walk, go ice skating, or head to the gym. You’ll release stress-fighting endorphins and have the opportunity to spend quality time with others.

Write a card to someone: Write a cheery note to someone, just because. It doesn’t have to be a special occasion to make a friend feel valued, and it can actually boost your mood as well. 

Change your work routine: If your work allows you to take an additional break now and then, try to get up, stretch, and walk around during the day. Bring a special blend of coffee to try with your co-workers, organize a fun lunch together, or find other meaningful ways to change your work routine.

Take a break from technology: Society is now more connected than ever and it’s easy to feel bombarded by negative news. Give yourself permission to turn off your TV, mobile devices, and computer for awhile. A little down time can go a long way.

Find a balance: While sleeping to avoid stressful situations can be a sign of depression, it's also important to get plenty of rest. Eight hours of sleep and sticking to an established sleep schedule is part of wellness. A good night's rest can change the next day's perspective.

Don’t let the winter blahs get the best of you. Stay focused on feeling confident in your job or job search, and seek out the support you need. Regardless of the season, you always have the ability to make positive changes to impact your life today.

You Wore What to Work? Worst Winter Wardrobe Choices Around the Office

 

Rain or shine, snow or sleet, business continues.  And so does corporate culture.

Dressing for a day at the office can be complicated by the seasons, but bad weather is no excuse for dressing inappropriately: with few exceptions, you’re still expected to follow the dress code.

Casual vs. cozy

It’s tempting to dress solely for warmth and comfort in winter, as the days grow shorter and chilly temperatures have you reaching for mittens and scarves. But, depending on your industry, there’s a definite limit to how cozy you can be around the office.

Your company may have a business casual policy or allow for bending the rules in particularly treacherous conditions, but neither is likely to last all season long.

What not to wear this winter

Avoid turning heads for all the wrong reasons by steering clear of these winter wardrobe snafus:

Sweatpants and shirts: These ultra-casual hybrids between day clothes and pajamas are purposely devoid of all professional qualities. Nothing says, “My alarm didn’t go off,” like a rumpled pair of cotton sweats at the office. Even with holiday prints and whimsical graphics, they’re better left to weekends and sick days spent at home.

Jogging suits: If your outfit is more suited to the locker room than the board room, it’s probably not appropriate. Velour, spandex, polyester – the variety of synthetic fabrics available in coordinating colors still doesn’t bring them up to business casual status. Bottom line: your co-workers shouldn’t see you in yoga pants and a hoodie, at least not at your desk.

Outdated holiday sweaters: You remember them: red and green panels, kissing reindeer, candy cane stripes. They may still be kitschy cute, but in case you haven’t heard, these once-popular knits are now passé. Argyle or solid cardigans that coordinate with a tailored look are in style again this year and can help pull any outfit together.   

Snow boots: Hefty boots and galoshes are great for crossing the parking lot. However, they’re not a substitute for loafers or heels once you’re safely inside. Check your company’s dress code for its policy on dress boots; they’re not always considered appropriate either.   

Parkas: Oversized winter coats aren’t meant to be worn indoors all day. Even the fur-trimmed variety are no substitute for business jackets.  If you’re cold at your desk, chances are you’re not the only one; speak to maintenance about adjusting the building’s temperature. Meanwhile, a pashmina, scarf, or discreet lap blanket can help you relieve the chill without making you look as though you were just leaving.

In general, a good rule of thumb is that if a piece of clothing is more casual than business, it’s probably not suitable for work. Ask your employer if you have doubts about what’s appropriate at your office. Classic styles, after all, trump cozy any business day of the year.