According to the January 2012 Employment Situation Report, the official unemployment rate now stands at 8.5 percent – the lowest it’s been in two years. Nominal job gains were realized in warehousing, transportation, retail trade, manufacturing, health care and mining.

The unemployment rate for adult men fell to 8 percent, and 7.9 percent for women. Blacks, however, are experiencing nearly twice the unemployment rate as whites, at 15.8 percent compared to 7.5 percent.

The bad news is that the declining topline unemployment figure doesn’t quite tell the whole story.

According to the BLS, there was no real decline in the number of people who were “marginally attached to the labor force” over the past year.

Perhaps more disturbingly, unemployment during this economic downturn has been alarmingly persistent. More than 5 million people report having been unemployed for 27 weeks or more. That’s 42.5 percent of the people who are listed as unemployed.

That number is almost certainly low – there remain nearly 1 million “discouraged workers,” not counted in the unemployment figures, who have dropped out of the work force because they don’t believe there are any jobs out there they can realistically compete for.

A gap in a resume for that long hurts – especially for information technology workers who need to keep up with changes in technology and trends. A gap of six months or more between engagements on a resume means atrophying skills and aging contacts. Rightly or wrongly, it also makes some hiring managers wince… what is wrong with this person that the application and resume isn’t mentioning?” they may ask themselves.

By itself, it shouldn’t be a deal-breaker. But it is something you’ll need to deal with as you go through your job hunt. Some ideas:

Use a functional resume. The functional resume format inverts the traditional chronological resume, and instead moves the most relevant work experience to the top, and organizes information by skill sets instead of by job titles. This may help you deemphasize any gaps in your resume.

Further your education. “I took some time to obtain this masters’ degree” sounds a lot better than “I’ve sent out 100 resumes and you were my first callback in six months.” Degree or certificate programs, continuing education, licensing and other coursework is tax deductible, as long as those programs don’t qualify you for a new profession. If you’re a technology person, getting a new credential in networking may be tax deductible; taking flying lessons may not be.

Improve your foreign language skills. Can’t afford grad school? This can pay big dividends in a variety of ways, and costs a lot less than graduate school. “I took the time to get very intense about studying Spanish / English / Chinese / German / anything else can really take the sting out of an uncomfortable resume gap, depending on the circumstances.

Read trade journals. If you’ve been out of the workforce for a while, it’s extra important to be able to show prospective employers that you’ve been keeping pace with developments in your industry. Subscriptions to trade journals are tax deductible, even if you’re unemployed, as long as the expense relates to your current profession and not to a new one. If you can’t afford a subscription, stay in close touch with colleagues and get their issues, or go to your local library. Your librarian may be able to help you get periodicals your library doesn’t carry.

Sign on with an agency. A good employment agency or temp agency can be of tremendous value in helping you avoid long gaps in your resume. Even temporary work can help you gain valuable skills and contacts for the future. If you find yourself unemployed, an employment agency specializing in your field should be your first stop. To sign up with Vitaver & Associates, click here.

Stay active in your profession. Unemployed? Now is a great time to step up in your professional and community organizations. Become a leader. You’ve got some time now. Attend meetings, and volunteer at key events. Each one will put you in contact with people in your industry, who can see your organizational and leadership skills first hand. Again, dues for professional organizations are tax deductible, as long as they relate to your current profession and not to a new one.

The bottom line: Don’t let those gaps just happen. Take ownership of your time, and be proactive with your career and professional development. The jobs will come to those who treat their job hunts like a job.

Hourly updated employment opportunities in our CAREER section!

The pace of change is increasing. A recent survey from Gartner, a prominent information technology company, found that corporate IT chiefs were increasingly being drawn out of their operations comfort zones – and of course, forced to drag their staffs out with them. No longer is information technology primarily a function of internal communication, data storage and – oh, yes! A Website! IT departments are now being asked to transform the way customers interact with the business – in ways that go far beyond the standard five-tab homepage and website architecture.

And they’ll have to do it all on a flat or declining budget, at least in the United States and Europe. Gartner’s survey of some 2,300 corporate information technology chiefs found that IT budgets worldwide were increasing an average of 0.5 percent, year over year, for 2012. And how is this spending being allocated? “Analytics, mobility and cloud are the top three CIO technologies,” said Gartner vice president Mark McDonald, in a January interview with the Financial Times.

What does that mean? IT chiefs worldwide (Gartner’s survey spanned 45 countries) are looking beyond short-term cost savings internal to their departments. For example, retailers are seeking ways to circumvent the expensive brick and mortar stores and those annoying salesclerks by doing more business online – cutting facilities costs, staffing, redundancies, and allowing them to inoculate themselves – to some extent, against the Amazon.coms of the world.

Likewise, insurance companies are seeking ways to eliminate the agent, whose commissions and relentless appetite for printed glossy marketing materials adds significant overhead to the cost of doing business.

IT chiefs are also looking for ways to exploit and profit from cloud computing – which enables them to improve the quality and reliability of many projects.

This spells opportunity for those who are quick on their feet. To have the best chance of success, match your skills – and your resumes – up with the top ten information technology priorities according to the Gartner survey:

• Analytics and business intelligence;
• Mobile technologies;
• Cloud computing (SaaS, IaaS, PaaS);
• Collaboration technologies (workflow);
• Virtualization;
• Legacy modernization;
• IT management;
• CRM;
• ERP applications;
• Security.

This last bullet surprised us, too. We had expected security concerns to rank higher. Apparently, the world’s C-level IT managers believe they have security issues decently in hand, though, and are working more on improving customer experiences, outreach and efficiency.

Significantly, some 61 percent of respondents project improving mobile capacity over the next three years. Most companies have a business strategy that involves becoming the market leader, or one of the leaders, in their industry – and will therefore be investing in improving their presence, both via the traditional Web and through mobile marketing as well, including application development and the development of mobile and social networking-friendly websites.

Looking at things more broadly, the Gartner survey also identified the top ten overall business priorities for 2012:

• Increasing enterprise growth;
• Attracting and retaining new customers;
• Reducing enterprise costs;
• Creating new products and services;
• Delivering operational results;
• Improving efficiency;
• Improving profitability;
• Attracting and retaining the workforce;
• Improving marketing and sales effectiveness;
• Expanding into new markets and geographies.

If you’re interviewing for jobs soon, or you want to optimize your resume for today’s important trends, it may make sense to incorporate some of these key phrases into your resume, cover letter, and your interview conversation. Just make sure you have enough information to know what you’re talking about!

Bottom Line
So where are the jobs coming from in 2012? Look beyond internal communications, file storage and data security. Develop your skills in mobile technology, cloud computing and app development. And semper Gumby! Always be flexible, because IT trends change faster than trends in most industries.

Look no further! Best IT JOBS are right here!

Interestingly, though, majority of the job ads didn’t come from more stable and huge companies, those with 500 or more employees. They were “looking for” posts from small businesses. These are the ones that have been badly hit by the slowly growing economy for the last 4 years, as reported by William Dunkelberg, chief economist of the National Federation of Independent Businesses. In November 2011, for example, around 200,000 private jobs were created, yet only 37,000 came from large-scale companies. The rest were from small businesses. Moreover, many are expecting for hiring to increase in 2012 as more people will open their own small businesses. If this were to push through, it would be a far cry from what the industry suffered in 2007: there were more failed businesses than new ones.

In spite of the bright picture, there are some serious challenges small businesses have to address or contend with. One is the lack of right people to do the job. For instance, if the small-based company has adopted certain technologies, it then becomes mandatory to hire someone with the appropriate technical skills. This poses a problem for laid-off workers too, since they may not get their jobs back.

Second, there are still a number of banks with strict credit standards, making it quite difficult for small businesses to obtain loans. They cannot open their businesses on time, compete in the market, or expand their enterprise.

There’s also the volatility of the international market, especially countries in Europe, such as the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, and Greece. Though the European Central Bank is working on providing more long-term and less-risky solutions than bailing out harshly affected banks and countries, it’s still not an assurance things are getting brighter in this side of the world.

The Possible Solutions

There’s no doubt small businesses will continue to play a huge role in a more stable U.S. economy in 2012. What is essential then is the assurance it continues to stay afloat or even improve within the next 12 months.

Needless to say, the small business sector cannot do this alone. It requires the assistance of the government, who has to strengthen small business policies and create guidelines that are beneficial to them. It is also necessary to understand the changes in the needs of small businesses, particularly in employment skills, and determine ways on how to bridge the gap. It may offer tech programs or short courses for current and potential in-demand positions.

The Federal Reserve Bank should strive to maintain a lower interest rate and monitor banks that charge excessive loan charges or implement stringent credit rules.

Check out our CAREER section to find the right job for you!

Here are five tips to know you are dealing with a good one:

1. He or she handles several large accounts.
There are two keywords in here: “many” and “huge businesses.” The former means the headhunter has a much higher chance of assigning you to a job that fits your experience as well as your preferred job description. The second is pretty obvious. If given a choice, you would surely want to work with companies that are more stable and, as much as possible, multinational. There are several positions you can fill in, there is always room for growth, and there’s a good chance the salary and benefits are superb.

2. Find someone who deals with your expertise.
Contrary to popular belief, headhunters do not really deal with you. They are working for employers or companies that are searching for someone like you. Because the demands of these bosses differ depending on the industry or the need, some headhunters tend to specialize. This way, they can recommend the best people for the job.

So if you say you are a marketing expert, go for those that are working for business executives, marketing companies, and enterprise directors.

3. Seek them in fairs.
Here is one good thing about joining expos and fairs: you could meet headhunters. Usually, these are the ones who need countless talents to build their pool of candidates. They can screen you right away. Seeing them in these events also mean they are dependable. Only the serious ones are willing to spend money to look for people at job expos and fairs.

4. Skip Craigslist.
The most reputable headhunters completely understand the importance of making a good impression to their clients (again, this is not you). How can they bring in business if they are nowhere to be found online except on Craigslist and perhaps some message boards? They have to get rid of any shadow of doubt, and the only way to do that is to set up their own website. Their site contains plenty of details about them, especially what they do, the kinds of people they are dealing with, and their list of services. You may also be able to read a couple (or more) of testimonials.

We are not saying Craigslist is not good. You can definitely find some real people there. However, since it is your future job on the line, we are simply reducing the risk of becoming a victim of scams.

5. Listen to other people’s recommendations.
In the end, it is going to be you who will decide which headhunter you should pick. Nevertheless, it still pays to listen to other people’s ideas as well as recommendations, especially if they themselves found jobs through such process. You may even obtain pointers on how to increase your chances of obtaining the headhunter’s attention.

Look no further! You’ve just found yours!
All you need now is to find a JOB you’ll love.

It’s important to keep the initiative, and keep your plan moving forward – especially if you’re vulnerable to depression at this time of year. Having a positive, pro-active approach to your job hunt through the tough holiday period can make a big difference.

Keep Plugging
Hiring activity slows during the holidays. But it doesn’t stop. And some companies would rather pay a headhunting commission to an employment agency in December rather than January, because they can expense it in the current year, rather than the next. Also, when you do get a December interview, it’s a very good sign, because employers don’t want to waste time during the holidays.

Enroll in Classes
December’s a great time to enroll in any education programs that will help you in your job hunt. Why? It keeps you busy and on task. Furthermore, for 2011, there’s an additional important reason to enroll in any planned education programs now: Any tuition and fees you can pre-pay before the end of the year qualify for an above-the-line adjustment to your income, under Internal Revenue Code Section 222. That means you don’t have to itemize expenses – you can take the standard deduction and still get the benefit of the college tuition tax deduction for qualifying programs, provided you meet the income requirements (and if you’re unemployed, you’re more likely to meet the income requirements!).

Furthermore, even if the education program doesn’t qualify for favorable tax treatment under Section 222, it may still qualify as a deductible expense, if it is directly related to your profession. For example, if you are an IT professional, classes leading to a Cisco or Microsoft or other certification would be a deductible educational expense (but flight lessons would not). Talk to a tax advisor for more information about your particular situation.

Stay Social
Accept those Christmas party invitations. Don’t hang around the house too much. Stay social, and continue to work your network. Chances are good your next job is going to come as a result of a referral from someone you already know, or will meet socially, as opposed to a total stranger who reads your resume over the transom in December. So stay out there, enjoy your time with friends and colleagues – and make sure everyone you meet knows you’re in the market for work! People want to help – especially during the holidays. Let them! Then you’ll be in a better position to help.

Send Cards
If you’re out of work, you’ll probably want to scale back the gift giving this year. But ramp up the card sending! These cards may be the best investment you can make. Because every card you send is an excuse to call a few days later and reconnect with old contacts. Then they will know you’re looking, too – and may have some ideas. Keep a notepad with you, and write them down. Have a system for tracking whom you’ve sent a card to and when, and when you’ll follow up on the phone. Hint: Send those cards early – well in advance of the holidays, so they don’t get lost in the rush, and they have time to talk to you. This effort alone can give you lots of work to do in the first couple of weeks of December. Some successful salespeople will send Thanksgiving cards, rather than Christmas cards. Why? So their card stands out.

Use Employment Agencies
With most businesses, HR is an afterthought – an adjunct to their core competencies. When time gets tight in December, the HR staff doesn’t get the same bandwidth as the accounting, operations and sales staff, in the effort to clear out the calendar year’s activities. However, with employment agencies, the HR people ARE the sales staff, and they ARE operations. Recruiting is the employment agency’s core competency. And so unlike many companies, HR companies such as employment agencies continue recruiting and interviewing through the holidays. December’s still a good time to meet with employment agency recruiters. You may be in the right time and the right place, as other job-seekers “check out” during the holidays and lose their focus. If an employment agency has a hot vacancy to fill, you may be “johnny-on-the-spot” while the competition is moping the holidays away at home.

Take Care of Yourself
It’s easy to “let yourself go” for the holidays. But remember that if you keep pushing, sending your cards, seeing your social contacts and working the system, you’ll have some interviews lined up in January – and you’ll want to be slim and trim for them. Enjoy Thanksgiving, Chanukah and Christmas, but stick to your exercise and nutrition plan the rest of the holidays. You don’t want to be showing up to your January interviews popping out of your shirt!

The thing to remember during the holidays is that you are really fighting two battles: The battle against the general hiring slowdown in December, as companies and decision makers have other priorities. You can’t do anything to control that – so don’t worry about it.

The second battle is the struggle to control yourself and your emotions, and the natural tendency to lose focus during the holidays. This aspect of the job-hunt battle, however, is entirely within your power to win.

Even on holidays we are working to get you BEST JOBS!

The answer is yes, but it’s going to be a lot of challenge, and the success rate is not that too high. Nevertheless, if you are dead serious of working in your previous company, then there are ways to make it somehow possible. Here are six of them:

1. Determine why you are out in the first place.
There is no reason why you should apply for your old job if you have left because you do not like it. Sooner than you have expected, you will begin to feel the burnout and itching to search for another work again. The chances of getting it back are also nil if you have suddenly dropped out of it without proper explanation, or you have been terminated.

Give it a very serious thought. Sometimes you make irrational decisions when you are in tight situations. Decide when your mind is clear and free from stress.

2. Know if the position is still open.
If you do not know for sure, contact your previous colleagues.

3. Back your resume with much stronger references.
Most definitely, your old boss is going to be apprehensive to hire you back, so you need a more solid arsenal to reduce his or her doubt on you. One of the best ways is to not only update your working experience and skills list but also provide better references. Find out who among your previous employers, teachers, or other professionals can vouch for your sincerity, honesty, and expertise.

4. Be ready to eat humble pie.
It is definitely humbling and even embarrassing to ask for your old job. In fact, some bosses relish on ex-employees who beg to them. So unless you are prepared to drop all airs, admit whatever wrong decisions you have made, and prove yourself 100 percent more this time to them, let go of the re-application idea.

5. Offer something new and different on the table.
Make yourself a lot more valuable than before. This way, there will be fewer excuses for them not to hire you back. Perhaps while you are processing your application, you can already start gaining new skills through trainings and classes. See to it that you can let your bosses know about your current and future plans, which will help you contribute more to the organization.

6. Never ever jeopardize yourself on your present job.
A lot of employees make the biggest mistake by forcing their present employers to terminate them. They usually perform poorly. That will surely not sit well with your old company, as you are seen as a potential headache and liability.

Always remember it is not the company’s fault why you feel miserable, or you feel there’s a need to go back to your old job. Give it some respect and don’t ruin your future by being negative.

…or find a better new one in our CAREER section !

• Get over your fears
• Bring value
• Invite them for coffee
• Lay the foundation
• Get their permission to mention their name to your prospects

At the end of this process, you should have done all the preparation, and created a favorable environment for the critical part of the conversation: The part where they agree to be a source of referrals for you – and actually provide them! Steps 6 through 11 are where the rubber meets the road. Here’s where you actually get people to call – and lay the groundwork for a favorable introduction to the best of them.

Step 6. Take the initiative

Don’t put your friend in the position of having to raid their mental rolodex for people to call on the spot. Chances are, they’ll draw a blank. Instead, have some homework done ahead of time. For example, look them up on a social networking page. LinkedIn, for example, but Facebook, Google+ and other social media pages work, too. Identify those individuals that they already know, and make a list.

Drawing a blank? Look at their professional organizations. Identify other colleagues that work in their industry in the area. Look up the names of competitors, vendors, suppliers, other business owners in the same street or neighborhood, or the same chapter of the Chamber of Commerce. Make a list of people you’d like to be introduced to, before the interview.

Step 7. Show them the list

Here’s where you say “look, I like to be prepared, so I made a list of people that you may know whom I’d like to target for my job hunt. Would you mind taking a look at it, and telling me who the good guys are?”

Smile and show them the list.

Tip: Try to position yourself on the same side of the table by now. So you are side by side at the table, and not diametrically opposed to one another.

“Which of these people do you know?”

Try to get your guest laughing, if possible. If you’ve done your homework, he’ll give you a lot of information right off the bat. Listen up. He’ll tell you “Yeah, I know that guy. He’s a great guy! He’s looking for someone actually! You should call him!”

Sometimes he’ll say “Yeah, that guy’s no good. I know people who worked for him. Stay away from him.”

All of it is valuable information for you. Mark up the list!

Step 8. Expand

Ask “Who is not on this list, but should be?” Then shut up! Wait for the answer! Notice I don’t phrase it as a “yes or no” question. You don’t want to risk a “no”. You’re asking for names! Give them the opportunity to give them to you. Ask open-ended questions. Then, keep asking “Who else? Who else? Who else?” until you run out of names. Find out a bit about each person and why you should contact them.

Step 9. Narrow The List Down

Now’s where you want to prioritize things. Ask “Of all the people on this list, who are the three or four people I should definitely call right now?”
Get him to answer that question.

Then keep asking “Who else? Who else? Who else?” Until you run out of names. Don’t stop at three! You’re on a roll!

Step 10. Get the top prospect

“Of all the names on the list, who is the one person you respect the most, who I should put at the top of the list?” Circle that number.

Step 11. Ask on the spot

Be bold! Ask flat out: “Can we call the guy?”

There’s no downside to asking directly! You’ve got most of the information you need already. You’ve collected the best names. If your guest isn’t comfortable calling, you haven’t lost anything. But there’s a world to be gained if the answer is “yes”! The best referral to get is the in-person personal introduction. The next best one is the phone hand over. You may be able to get acquainted with a quick cell phone call on the spot.

Then ask “Hey, you guys got breakfast plans tomorrow?”

Bang. You’ve got one more appointment with an industry or community leader, you’re cementing your friend’s relationship with that leader, you’ve got a list of 20 or 30 people to contact. You’ve got inside info on who the best people to call are. Not a bad return for the price of two cups of coffee and 20 minutes of your time!

Hourly updated employment opportunities in our CAREER section!

If you want to learn how to get a referral, talk to people who make their living from referrals. The masters of the art of referral are salespeople. There’s an old saying among sales professionals: “Salespeople who can’t get referrals have skinny kids.”

There are all kinds of techniques for getting referrals. But this article is going to take one proven approach now in use by thousands of salespeople worldwide. The purpose is to give the non-sales professional an easy, nonthreatening, and effective, proven roadmap to expanding your referral base.

Step 1. Get Over Your Fears

It’s tough asking for a referral. Pride gets in the way. And we feel uncomfortable exploiting our network of friends, family and business contacts for economic gain. Cher had the right idea in the movie “Moonstruck:” “Snap out of it!” Not a single person you will talk to wants you to stay unemployed, underemployed or unhappy. Not a single one. They all want you to succeed. The best of them would feel hurt if you were hurting and didn’t come to them.

Second, everyone wants to feel important, and they want to help. If they know you to be a good worker, who can provide good value and really be a help to whatever organization you join, they want to be a referral source. If they know someone who needs your skill set, it’s a feather in their own cap to be the person who refers a great employee.

Third, some employers actually pay a referral bonus to employees who refer a new successful team member. Often, this bonus is $1,000 or more. Why would you want to deny your friends the opportunity to collect?

Job hunting is salesmanship. And like any good salesperson, you must leverage your contacts to have the best chances for success. You owe that much to yourself and to your family. Don’t let false pride get in the way.

Step 2: Bring Value

The best source of professional referrals is happy clients or former employers. They are the ones who know your worth best. And their word carries the most weight with their own network of contacts. Contact these people first.
But there are many other ways to bring value to a relationship than just via being an employee or contractor for someone. If you have demonstrated leadership, generosity or any other quality in the past (and I hope you have!), then those whom you were associated with can also be great sources of referrals, too. Stay in touch with colleagues from the military, fraternities and sororities, professional organizations, churches and synagogues, community service organizations, youth sports leagues and other volunteer organizations. Write down their names and go down the list. The bottom line is that each of these people should already know your worth, and that you have every reason to believe that they will be positive references for you, and perhaps even be enthusiastic partners in your search.

3. Invite them for a cup of coffee.

If you’re unemployed, you don’t want to be springing for dinner. Coffee is cheap, noncommittal, and informal. And with free refills, you can meet people in a coffee shop one after another and spend very little money. If you must have a meal, breakfast is usually cheapest. Avoid dinner, which often comes with alcohol. That gets pricey fast.

4. Lay the foundation.

There’s a reason you asked to see them. Spell it out, in a positive, complementary way. “Look, I wanted to see you because I respect your opinion, and I know you know a lot about the industry.”

You want your guest to actually take pride in his or her industry knowledge, and the worthiness of their own opinion or referral. Make it clear that you’re talking with someone you really respect and admire. Yes, you can call it “buttering them up.” And you can call it a few other less printable things, too. But I prefer to think of it as “creating a favorable mindset.”

Why? Because lots of people enter “shields-up” mode when they sense they will shortly be pumped for referrals. Before asking for names, you must first disarm this reflex. Otherwise, you are likely to experience the “stonewall.” As in “yeah, I don’t know anyone. But I’ll keep you in mind. Send your resume to me!” This is what you don’t want.

Instead, you need to close the rhetorical trap door behind them. By first complementing them on their industry knowledge, or their standing in the community, and getting them to assent, before you go on to the meat of the conversation, you eliminate the “I don’t know anyone,” escape. Instead, you want to create a circumstance where they are inclined to want to show off their industry knowledge. You want to tap the “pride” cortex, and reinforce that, prior to the next stage.

5. Get permission to mention them.

No one likes to be blindsided with a reference. So it’s important to get your friends’ assent and cooperation up front. Here’s one way of doing it: “Look, I’m planning on contacting a lot of leaders in this industry/community just like you, and I know you know a lot of them. I just wanted to ask if I needed an icebreaker or something, would it be ok with you if I mentioned that we worked together?”

Almost no one will tell you “no.” If they do, that’s an important signal for you: It means this person is not going to be a good reference for you, if contacted. Time to pay for the coffee and get out of there.

But 99 percent of the time, if they were willing to meet with you, and you buttered them up appropriately, they will tell you yes. Move on to the next step.
Where’s the next step? Well, it’s in our next article! Stay tuned!

Wide spectrum of jobs is available at our CAREER section!

We do know many people crave for their specialty drinks, those Frappuccino and lattes. However, what really drives Starbucks to ultimate success during recession times is their innovative, methodical, and sometimes bold decisions and strategies:

Reduce the pomp and pageantry.

Is your company spending tons of dollars just for your annual or quarterly meeting? Then it’s time to take heed to Starbucks’ technique.

In 2009, Starbucks was badly hit. Their shares dramatically fell to almost 40 percent, and their price in NASDAQ was close to that of a coffee bean pound. So in an effort to save on costs, during their annual meeting in Seattle on the same year, they got rid of celebrity performances and focused on the core: assessing their anti-recession strategies.

Go lean.

The lean method is one of the best ways to ensure you remain afloat after truly difficult times. During the 2008 recession, Starbucks was one of the many companies forced to let go of their employees and stores, closing 900 of them.

Besides that, however, they turned their attention on their own methodologies. They reduced the time spent by their baristas in preparing coffee, carefully selected the best suppliers on their list, and negotiated rental fees with building and lot owners.

Don’t forget your own brand.

Starbucks still remains one of the most sought-after and franchised brands in the world, but it’s also facing huge threats from McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts that are serving cheaper brewed coffees.

Instead of going on the same route, though, they decided to stand out and re-emphasize their brand as a specialty coffee shop. For example, they opened stores that remind customers of the first Starbucks, with wooden furniture made from recycled materials. They want customers to feel as if they’re really inside a coffeehouse.

Go beyond traditional marketing methods.

Starbucks has its own Facebook and Twitter accounts (they were one of the first international enterprises to promote on Twitter, with ads appearing in between conversations or user searches). Its website invokes a homey feel. It has also taken spots in newspapers and magazines.

Yet Starbucks didn’t stop with them. They think outside the box. In 2009, iced coffees in grande were sold at a much lower price and paired with other drinks and sandwiches. This way, customers could also try their non-moving products.

Recently, they joined the Create Jobs for USA Campaign, selling well-designed Indivisible bracelets at $5 all over their branches. By purchasing, customers contribute to Opportunity Finance Network, which provides micro-loans to small business owners.

They also partnered with other application developers and companies. In the coming holidays in China, 20,000 Starbucks patrons can enjoy a free upgrade on cup size as long as they check in on or before December 17 using Jiepang, China’s own Foursquare.

Recession and any type of economic crisis often forces business owners, especially small ones, to reduce their advertising budget, if not stop their marketing campaigns all together. But that isn’t the best solution. In fact, it’s one of the best times to market so you can keep your enterprise afloat.

You just have to be practical with your approaches, seek out the best partners (those that can help you reach your objectives), and stand out by reinforcing your brand, the one thing that makes you worth it against your competitors.

Check out our CAREER section to find the right job for you!

It was funny because it’s true.

The fact is that if you’ve put on a few pounds from eating too many lunches at your desk, and you’re out of work now, reclaiming your body might be one of the most important things you can do not just for your physical health, but for your career health as well – especially if you are a woman. And before anyone takes offense, it’s not just me saying that. I’m just pointing out the obvious: The data are in. Across the United States and Europe, obesity correlates negatively with income. The more overweight you are, the more likely you are to under earn relative to your peers, and the longer you can anticipate staying unemployed.

Consider:
• 42 percent of women in households with incomes of below $29,000 per year are obese; Only 29 percent of women in households with incomes above $77,000 per year are obese. (There was no statistically significant difference for men, however.)
• Women are 16 times more likely to report weight discrimination than men (Caliendo, 2011).
• A study by Mark Roehling, published in the Journal of Business Ethics in 2002, found evidence of workplace weight discrimination “pervasive” and “overwhelming.”
• 15.9 percent of employers surveyed believed that obese job applicants should be “barred from employment,” while 43.9 believed that obesity was a valid medical reason for not hiring an applicant (Roe, Eickwort).

Furthermore, employers are increasingly adopting wellness programs, and even requiring employees to be non-smokers as a condition of employment. The reason: When employees get sick, it costs the company money not only in absenteeism and lost productivity – it also costs the employer real money in health insurance premiums. This is because most health plans assess premiums based on the company’s actual claims experience the prior year. If claims rise, so do health premiums.

If companies are overtly screening out smokers, it’s hard to imagine they aren’t covertly screening out the obese. And because of social media, chances are pretty good they don’t even need to bring you in to the interview before you get screened out because of your weight. You won’t get called for an interview, and you’ll never know why.

Take Charge
Being between jobs is an ideal time to take charge of your body again. Habits are your best friend and your worst enemy at the same time. If you are significantly overweight, you probably have some bad habits. Losing a job breaks up your routine, but it also gives you a chance to design a better, healthier routine.

Here’s what you can do:

Eat out less.
Restaurant entrees are calorie bombs. Restaurant chefs load up their meals with tasty but calorie-dense oils, sauces, cream, butter and fatty cuts of meat. One restaurant entrée can easily send you soaring over 1000 calories. Make a sandwich at home, and you’re eating for half that.

Be Aware of Stress Eating
Joel Garfinkle, an author and and career coach who has worked with hundreds of people in career transitions has seen it happen: Stress, food in the fridge and time on your hands spell trouble. “It’s always a good idea to maintain proper nutrition, but especially so during stressful times. Being at home and having easy access to junk food or leftovers make for an unhealthy combination.”

Consider a Gym Membership
The recession has been terrible – but gyms have been forced to drop their membership prices substantially in response. You can get a full membership to a gym for less than a dollar a day. What’s more, if you shower at the gym in the morning, instead of at home, you also cut your hot water bill. If you do it a lot, the net cost of your gym membership could go down to nearly nothing!

In addition to the health benefits of regular exercise, you’ll also expand your social circles and networking opportunities. And meet people with good habits, just like yours. Your next job could well come as a result of a contact you make while working out.

Try Group Activities
Pumping iron solo can give great results if you’re focused and you have good form. But the more group activities you pursue, the wider you cast your net for employment contacts as well. Try taking classes, team sports, basketball, racquetball and volleyball tournaments, yoga classes, tennis lessons. The main thing is you do something you enjoy and that you’ll stick with over time as you build new habits.

Can’t Splurge on a Gym Membership?
You don’t need to. You can get a terrific workout using nothing but your own body weight! For ideas, try Bodyrock, at www.bodyrock.tv. Zuzana Light has scores of self-contained exercises and workouts that are useable and challenging for any fitness level – absolutely free.

You Are In Control
You can’t control who calls you back for an interview. You can’t control what employers do after they interview you. You can’t control the economy around you. But you absolutely can control how you take care of yourself, and you can control whether you leave the couch and work out, and you can control how hard you push yourself to improve. Unemployment can be stressful and depressing. But it’s very hard to be depressed when you’ve set a personal record for a one mile run, or lifted more than you could a week ago, or you lost two pounds last week from exercising and eating right. That lift can carry you through the day, will give you energy and confidence as you navigate the challenges of a job hunt, and the process will help you get better jobs sooner and make more money in the long run. It may be that your biggest challenge will be buying new work clothes, because the old ones don’t fit anymore!

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