Work Opportunities in Rural Areas

Many college graduates head for big cities like New York or Chicago after they graduate, although there may be some good reasons to consider less heavily populated regions as employment locations. For years rural areas have been losing its citizens to big cities, causing many smaller towns to decrease in population and having a severe negative impact on their economies. As a result, many rural areas are taking steps to prevent their citizens from leaving, and perhaps even attracting new inhabitants.

Kansas has recently implemented the Rural Opportunity Zones program, in which new full-time residents of the state are offered Kansas income tax waivers for a period of up to five years, providing that they live in of the 73 counties who are participating in the program. The majority of these counties are also offering student loan repayments up to $15,000.

Nebraska, which is located directly above Kansas, has also taken steps to attract more residents. The University of Nebraska has started an initiative it refers to as the Rural Sourcing Project. This undertaking outsources jobs to smaller towns throughout the state, instead of to major metropolitan areas.  The Rural Sourcing Project was inspired by an Atlanta-based software development company called Xpanxion. Over the past six years Xpanxion has created about 100 jobs in Nebraska in an effort to attract skilled workers to small towns throughout the state. This has saved Xpanxion a great deal of money on labor expenses, since workers in Nebraska do not need to be paid as much as in Atlanta or the Silicon Valley. Likewise, workers benefit from the much lower cost of living, so it is a win-win situation. Xpanxion has since established a program with the Center for Rural Research and Development at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and with the university’s al umni association in an effort to recruit graduates. Today these programs are collectively known as the Rural Sourcing Project.

In addition to offering a lower cost of living, rural areas are also attractive because they have lower crime rates and less pollution than big cities. Many people also enjoy the charm of small towns. Large urban areas still offer many work opportunities, but job searches need not be restricted to big cities. If you need help finding a job, contact us today.

Bragging Skills Could Improve Work Opportunities for Women

Two recent studies suggest that a reluctance to brag could be holding women back when it comes to work opportunities. If you’re searching for a new job online, it may be time to improve your bragging skills.

Researchers at Montana State University confirmed the conventional wisdom that women are less comfortable than men when it comes to talking about their accomplishments. They put female students to the test by asking them to write an essay about why they deserved a merit scholarship. The group that did best was the one that was tricked into thinking there was a box in the room emitting sound waves that caused anxiety even though they couldn’t be heard. It appeared that the students blamed their discomfort on the box which freed them up to brag about themselves more effectively.

An earlier study at the University of Massachusetts reached similar conclusions. They found that women working with men were less likely to take credit for their work than women with female colleagues.

Being able to talk about your achievements is essential to landing a new job and advancing in your career. If you’re struggling with excess modesty, consider these tips:

Focus on the bottom line. Downplaying your qualifications is expensive. The typical woman still earns less over her lifetime than her male counterpart.

Build your confidence. Think of it as telling the truth rather than boasting. Assess your strengths and get feedback from people you trust.

Distract yourself. You don’t have to have an imaginary box like the experiment above. Focus on your work rather than your fears.

Talk about results. Sticking to the facts will impress an employer and reduce your stress. Take credit for cutting costs or improving quality.

Team up. You may find it easier to promote others. Network with colleagues you can say nice things about.

You’ll find more than 250,000 jobs you can search for free at Jobvertise. Contact us to learn how to energize your job search.

Remove these Posts from Social Media when Finding Jobs

Our previous post already discussed how you had to clean up your digital life before finding a job. Many potential employers now routinely look at your social media to determine if you'd make a good fir for the company. It's not enough, however, to remove questionable pictures. You must also delete the following types of posts.

• Complaints may paint you as a troublemaker and hothead if you use social media to vent your anger against businesses, coworkers, bosses, industries or the government. If you want to warn your followers against unsavory business practices, balance the complaint with a suggestion for improvement. Potential employers will then see you as someone who likes to solve problems.
  
• Political commentary. It's a free country and you're entitled to your opinion. But what happens if your employer does not share your views, or consider your opinions extreme or radical? Many bosses don't really care what you think but they may be concerned about how customers may view your commentaries, especially if you work in jobs with public contact, such as sales or customer service. Play it safe by removing any posts with a hint of politics.
  
• Confidential information. If you've signed a confidentiality clause with your current or past employers, then you are legally bound not to repeat anything on social media that could violate that clause. And even if you didn't, you must not post anything that your potential employer might see as confidential, including unreleased technology, vendor contracts and discount, or profit and loss figures. Even innocent praise for a successful project can be seen as inappropriate if it discusses something that is not public knowledge. Only post information about your company that already exists online or in printed media.
  

You want your social media to present the best possible side of you to potential employers. For more ways to do that or if you want help in finding a job, please contact us.

Post Resumes: Get Your Name And Experience Out There

Being a job seeker is not a position most people want to be in. They would rather be a job holder. As such, it is important to get out there and nab the job. The best way to do this is to start to post resumes and see what is available out there.

It Is A Wide World Of Jobs
Even when the economy is at its worst there are still jobs available somewhere. Many are deterred simply because they believe that the economy is tough out there. The economy may indeed be tough, but doing nothing at all will not solve the problem for yourself. Instead, it is necessary for you to get your name out there.

Crafting A Strong Resume
There are many people who are going to be posting their resumes at any given time. They are in direct competition with you for the jobs you may want.

Prospective employers not only look at your resume, but how your resume is presented. You need to make sure your resume is pleasing to the eye as well as contains good content.

You want your resume to stand out from the rest that are available to any given employer. This means proofreading it and making sure that it looks better than the standard resume.

Never Stop Trying
Just submitting a resume to the one job that you would really like to have is not effective enough. You should apply for that job, but you should also apply for others as well. You never know which one might decide to give you a call. If you stop at the first one, then you may be waiting around for a very long time.

Contact us for more tips on how to get your resume in order and how to land a job.