Mark Anthony Dyson, Author at The Voice of Job Seekers

16 Years Old, He or She is a Job seeker

At 16, he or she is a job seeker.

Teaching preparation to our little adults is essential. Our natural instinct is to protect them from disappointment and just concentrate on school work. For a few teens, that works fine. However, a 16 year old needs to work. They need the basic job lesson: I work, therefore, I am contributing.

Rise and Grind, first school, then work. Now.

Are we really protecting our little job seekers by letting them just go to school and play sports? I don’t. School work fills part of a day, and rarely the whole. Teens, I think, need to work during the school year. At worse, volunteer 10 hours a week, but teens need to do something.

Read: Make Career Defining Choices Like a 17-Year-Old

Our little job seekers choose between video games, or roaming the streets. How about working to earn school clothes money? How about volunteer work? It is not about keeping them busy. Character means much more by our teens volunteering and working.

Several studies should alarm every parent, no matter the race or culture:

During the June–July period of 2009, on average, there
were 2.063 million unemployed teens (not seasonally adjusted).15 This
pool of unemployed teens represented slightly over 26 percent of the
official civilian labor force; thus, the official unemployment rate for
teens in the June–July period was 26.3 percent, the highest summer
unemployment rate for teens in the past sixty-one years.

Sum, A., Khatiwada, I., McLaughlin, J., & Beard, A. (2010). Historically Low Teen Employment: The Case for a New Youth Jobs Program. Challenge, 53(1), 87-108

Estimated Numbers of Unemployed Teens (16–19) and Adults (20+)
and Their Unemployment Rates in June–July 2009 (in millions, two-month
averages, not seasonally adjusted)

Labor force variable                        Teens                  Adults 20+
Civilian labor force                           7,846                 145,336
Unemployed                                     2,063                 13,085
Unemployment rate                         26.3%                9.0%

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Employment Situation: July 2009 (Washington, DC, 2009).

Historically, the rate of unemployment for African-American teens is alarmingly higher than White teens. The alarm has rung annoyingly for more than 24 years. In 1998, Ebony magazine published an article by Charles Whitaker stating what many African-American leaders are bellowing now:

OUR children are in imminent danger. Millions of them are engulfed in a morass of drugs and violence and are falling in staggering numbers to some of the most virulent social ills plaguing America.

Ebony, August 1988, A Generation in Peril, by Charles Whitaker.

In the same article, he states alarming statistics about the youth in the African-American community:

The jobless rate for Black teenagers—particularly males —hovers near 40 percent,
twice that of White teenagers. Many of these youths grow up never
knowing anyone who has held a job.

Also,

A 1987 Census Bureau report cautioned that “a large number of Blacks are falling out of the mainstream of our economic life and may never find a way back in.”

A Generation in Peril, by Charles Whitaker.

History, like a Sting lyric, “…will teach us nothing.”

Parents can do something now. If you are against your teen working during school, that is a personal decision I can understand. The downside is they can work and go to school. My son “Boy Wonder” works and attends school, plays sports, volunteers at a local hospital and maintains a 3.0 of 4.0 grade point average. This did not happen without preparation, conversation, and all of our family’s participation.

If you want little job seekers to work during the summer, start searching now. Have them dress, and meet people to make a positive impression. Teen unemployment in Illinois this summer was 26.1% as reported by Forbes magazine.

If you have done everything you can as a parent to find your 16 year old a job, then let him or her volunteer. The worst thing that could happen other than involvement in crime, is to lack purpose, and waste potential talent or a lesson in work ethic and skill. Wasted opportunities in not teaching work ethic and responsibility is the worst crime that exists. A young person could be arrested without handcuffs for years, and we may all suffer as a result.

Image: teenchokinggame.com

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Where Are The Jobs? For Many, In Their Hands

I like this analogy about the ideal attitude for job seekers and jobs. We must remain in control of our careers to pursue jobs we want and need.

I wrote a blog post a couple of years ago using a story told by Ellie Wiesel who is a holocaust survivor, journalist, and professor. This story has remained with me for years. Although I did not put the thought into the post, the story he told means more now than ever:

The Perils of Indifference (An Excerpt)

The White House, April 12, 1999

The story is that, once upon a time, there was an emperor, and the emperor heard that in his empire there was a man, a wise man with occult powers. He had all the powers in the world. He knew when the wind was blowing what messages it would carry from one country to another.He read the clouds and he realized that the clouds had a design. He knew the meaning of that design.

He heard the birds. He understood the language of the birds; the chirping of the birds carried messages. And then he heard there was a man who also knew how to read another person’s mind. I want to see him, said the emperor. They found him. They brought him to the emperor.Is it true that you know how to read the clouds? Yes, Majesty. Is it true you know the language of the birds? Yes, Majesty. What about the wind? Yes, I know.Okay, says the emperor. I have in my hands behind my back a bird. Tell me, is it alive or not?

And the wise man was so afraid that whatever he would say would be a tragedy, that if he were to say that the bird is alive,the emperor, in spite, would kill it. So he looked at the emperor for a longtime, smiled, and said, Majesty, the answer is in your hands. It’s always in our hands.

The outcome of employment is in our hands. It is easy to blame government, big companies, or our last employer for the lack of hiring.

What are 5 things that are in each of our hands that we control?

1. Give 100% effort. Putting 100% effort in using the tools at our disposal. Use 8 hours a day to scan job boards, network with new people, contact the people we know, research companies where we want to work, and call for informational interviews will bring us closer to employment.

2. Work while we are waiting for work. Temporary work is an option for everyone, and everybody to earn money while waiting for the job we want.

3. Volunteer. These are opportunities that can help us keep our skills up and possible learn new skills. If you have attended a computer class at the library, an opportunity to use new learned skills is in your hands.

4. Help others with their job search. The job search is not about you completely. It helps to pass on what you know, even if it is not reciprocated, but underestimate what you can learn in the process.

5. Aid us while re-tooling. There are books on self-improvement, resume and cover letter writing, networking, and grammar that are useful to increase employment value.

The answer is in our hands with ways to make a difference today. We decide the outcome with what we do with our hands.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Interview with Bill Holland: Cracking The New Job Market Author

I reviewed Mr. Holland’s book last Wednesday, Cracking The New Job Market: The 7 Rules for Getting Hired in Any Economy. He is a very busy man, and gracious, to answer a few questions along the way:

The Voice of Jobseekers (TVOJ): You mentioned in your new book about “value creation.” What do you think prohibits a job seeker from discovering his or her own worth?

Holland: We are in the midst of a sea-change in which “worth” is taking on new meanings. Traditionally, you might review the work of companies like Hay Consultants who would conduct surveys to see what companies were paying workers with certain levels of education, experience and skill. Because pay levels varied accordingly, white collar workers could get a good sense of what a “fair wage” would be for them individually. Those calculations are now more difficult to make and often fly in the face of personal experience.

It is easy for someone to understand that companies are interested in those who can create value for the enterprise. Increasingly, workers are retained only for as long as it makes sense to do so. The job of the $150,000 a year executive can be here today and gone tomorrow depending on the current value calculation a company makes. When the goods and services you produce can best be produced elsewhere, it changes the value calculation. As such, the idea of linear careers that are “onward and upward” may be a thing of the past.

The Great Recession has a lot to do with current levels of job market volatility. But it will not end once the economy bounces back. An individual’s worth in the market place is more of a day-to-day proposition than ever before.

(TVOJ): I was involved in a discussion last week about how bold statements done by job seekers like billboard signs and newspaper ads are perceived as desperate, or a way of just standing out. What do you think about his way of attracting employers?

Holland: Getting attention in the job market this way is a gimmick. That doesn’t mean gimmicks are bad or should not be used. Sometimes, gimmicks work—just not very often and/or not very well. Your chances are much better if you establish a solid track record of value creation and learn how to bring that record to the job market.

I understand that in a difficult job market people will resort to gimmicks and are vulnerable to a “host of dubious schemes, scams and unhelpful self-help books and DVDs.” Grabbing at such straws is akin to buying a lottery ticket. We all know someone is going to win, but there is little likelihood it will be you.

(TVOJ): You mention the “Hidden Job Market” does not exist. Yet there are employers and recruiters who say that is where the jobs are found. What can job seekers do to unearth these opportunities?

Holland: Initially what was meant by the “hidden” job market was the simple assertion that most of the jobs were not advertised. That is, they were hidden from people who confined their job search to newspaper ads. The idea has now morphed into the notion that the entire process is mostly an insider’s game than can only be accessed by getting to the hiring manager directly. My view is that white collar recruiting was largely a decentralized affair and if you wanted a job, you needed to apply to the appropriate facility. The process was not so much hidden as it was splintered. Today, if you are looking for work, it is helpful to target companies and determine how they recruit. Almost all recruiting today involves the Internet. The hiring processes, once described as hidden (I prefer “splintered”) are now largely open and easily accessible.

If you want to know where to look, identify your target organizations and ask them how they recruit. Most will be happy to tell you. A family friend recently got his next job this way. They told him to keep an eye open for job listings by becoming a “Fan” on Facebook. He also engaged his network; had people put in a good word for him; used job boards; and regularly checked the job ads in the Wall Street Journal. But sure enough, he learned of his next opportunity by doing exactly what they advised him to do.

(TVOJ): If the recession worsens, do you think there will be a “newer” job market?

Holland: There will be a newer job market whether the recession worsens or not. Technology and globalization will continue to shape the market. I can’t tell you precisely what it will look like except there is every reason to believe that work-place volatility and value creation will play prominent roles.

(TVOJ): What is the biggest lesson that everyone, working or not, learned about jobs from the “Great Recession?” Since I am African-American, I feel compelled to ask if there is a special job search lesson for us to learn.

Holland: In many respects the lessons are the same across the board. There are several generations of African-America students (and others as well) who believe that they can go to college, get a job and join the middle class. Formal education by itself will not accomplish that: And colleges and universities are not particularly equipped to fulfill the vocational dimension we expect from a college education. That is why I added Appendix A to my book “Helicopter Parenting is a Good Thing.” Students need to understand that a college degree by itself is not sufficient. When they and their parents truly understand value creation, their chances of being career-ready by the time they graduate is enhanced.

(TVOJ): Recently, articles have been published about employers only inviting employed applicants for open positions. Where do you think that comes from? Does that make the job market more splintered?

Holland: More splintered? No, it makes it more difficult if you are between jobs. These employers are sending clear messages that they get far too many applicants for job openings. By eliminating the unemployed the applicant work load is reduced. They believe the most talented people have jobs. Value creation becomes even more critical to the success of potential candidates. Start now to build your personal brand as a creator of value.

Mr. Holland’s book, Cracking The New Job Market: The 7 Rules for Getting Hired in Any Economy, is available on Amazon.com and other outlets. Don’t forget that tomorrow is the last day to qualify for a free copy of this book. Simply read last week’s post, Tweet or Retweet it on Twitter. Be sure that my Twitter account @MarkADyson is included so I can see it.