A New Beginning!!!

In the past 30-odd years of my life I have had a job for over 10 years. I have been working on odd jobs, freelance writing, etc... in short being self employed for sometime also. Since arriving in the US smack in the middle of the economic downturn I have been struggling to land a "proper job". The struggle continues...

The new beginning which I talk about in the headline of this post is a career switch. Something that I have done in the past but not something this radical. I have moved from being a graphic designer to a writer-editor but the industry remained the same publishing/ newspapers.

I will be starting a new course tomorrow. This semester will be aimed at providing me the necessary job-skills for a specific profession. I sure hope this new beginning will get me a step ahead towards my final goal. It is like Neil Armstrong said "A step on moon is equal to a giant leap to mankind" or something like that. Tomorrow's beginning I hope will be something like this.

Post Christmas Slump

Yesterday was Christmas with lots of snow and ice and most shops were closed after heavy festival sales. One would naturally expect the sales to continue through new year. But today's shoppers got a rude surprise when they hit the stores... the prices were back to their highs and only the clearance items were cheap and low priced. American retailers sure know how to get customers into their stores and make them spend more than they expected to.
At least it is good for the economy, someone is making money.

Wondering What to Blog about???

I have been pretty lax about blogging of late. Truth is nothing exciting is happening in my life and with school, part time jobs, and job hunting I hardly get any time to spend in front of this 'intelligent box'. Yep I called the laptop computer 'intelligent box' because the TV has been called the 'idiot box' for a long long time... I call the PC an intelligent box because this makes one think and attempt to create something. More often than not while working on the PC the mind gets stimulated, while the same doesn't happen while watching TV.

Coming back to my life in the Big D, within Big T, which is within the Big A has remained pretty much the same over the past two years. We moved from one city to another within 9 miles distance. The job market is as bad as it was when I landed here... probably a little worse. All my life in India I never had to struggle to find a job. In fact I always had couple of offers on hand. I have never felt so worthless in my life than here in the US looking for the elusive job.

I wonder when I will land a proper full-time job in this country. Sometimes I wonder whether I will ever get a job, sometimes I feel hopeful that I will get a particular job when I apply but it soon fizzles out like a damp squib. Life is such that one has to keep doing something to make a living and that is what I am doing. Trying to make a living... it is difficult but I am trying... and will continue to keep trying.

Get a New Look before that Job Interview!!!

During the past couple of years of economic downturn hundreds of thousands of people have been laid off, businesses gone bankrupt, retirees have reentered the workforce, and the job market has become unusually competitive. In this scenario what is the best way to hear that four magical words from a prospective employer: "When can you join?" Given the competition there is a need to pull all the stops to ensure that you land the job you are looking for.

Recently Gillette (R) commissioned a survey of about 500 HR professionals to know what a job seeker can do to create the first impression. The results of the survey conducted by Harris Interactive(R) are quite revealing of hiring trends with 84% respondents saying that they have noticed well-groomed employees climb the corporate ladder faster than those who are not. Another glaring statistic of the survey is that 90% of the HR professionals consider a well-groomed appearance better than a firm handshake.

As a result of the survey Gillette decided to do something for the job seekers and promoted the Gillette Career Advantage, a unique portal where job seekers can get advice from career expert Mark Jeffries and GQ style correspondent, Brett Fahlgren on how to get ahead in their profession. The website also features the Gillette Career Quiz, a hire guide which reveals what HR professionals really think and numerous other resources for the job seeker. This website is designed to equip and empower job seekers with the tools, information and advice on how to beat the competition and rise up in their career even in this weak economy.

That apart there is another initiative from Gillette. This is named the Gillette Resource Center where one can information about the survey, get the numbers and charts of the survey findings and get grooming and career advice from career experts.

I wouldn't miss this opportunity to know what is in the mind of a HR professional even though I am not in the job market. This is information one could use anytime in his career.

An Effort to Transform the USA

The largest (geographically) and the most powerful democracy in the world (USA) is in facing its worst crisis in history. When in crisis what do American's do? They go shopping, do business and improve economic value of their nation. This is exactly what Michael Tchong wants to do, he has started a new venture known as Reinventing America through which he hopes to rid the country off its crisis and put it on a path of progress and peace. The website stresses heavily on values, virtues, transparency, ethics education and similar measures as a solution to the present crises.

Will there be an increase in suicides?

The global economic crisis is getting excerbated with every passing day. Until yesterday we were reading about how corporations are suffering huge losses. Now thanks to the bloodbath in the stock market individual investors are being forced to take huge losses. And what does it mean to the common man... life time savings going down the drain. And if it is retirement earnings of a senior citizen that is gone, it usually results in suicide.

I thought of posting this blog after reading two related but diversely different newsreports in Times of India. While one talked about a husband contemplating divorcing his wife because she lost 30 lakh on the stock market, another talks about the suicide of a retired teacher in UP. Both these individuals had invested heavily in the stock market and the global economic crisis have put them in deep trouble.

News about farmers suicides due to crop failures, rising debt etc have become so common in India that people have become insensitive about them. I wonder whether the next trend would be "Investors Suicides" due to tumbling stock market indices. Let us hope the crisis is solved now that an Indian is heading the recovery plan in the US, he will exercise some Hindu instincts and make the world an economically safer place to live in.