The Career Center over at Rasmussen has created a tool that’s being welcomed by students and HR pros alike. The tool is titled, What Career Should I Choose? and it allows searchers to to find out which careers within their field are the most promising and lucrative. The chart graph, shows jobs as dots, which are color coded by salary and growth rates.

The data is taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2013 Occupational Employment Statistics (salary data) and Occupational Outlook Handbook (career information and outlook.) If you’re still looking for the perfect career, or are an HR pro trying to help someone find one, What Career Should I Choose? is a great resource for easy to access info about careers in your desired field.

The data displayed on this graph is easy to read and user friendly, with a great zoom function. The X axis is the complete amount of people employed in the US in 2011, and ranged from zero, to 2.5 million. The Y axis is the average annual salary in 2011, ranging up to two-hundred thousand dollars.  Users can choose one, or more categories for their job search. With categories from Architecture and Engineering, to Transportation and Material Moving, there’s undoubtedly a choice that will resonate with you.

Once you’ve chosen your categories, you’ll see a series of dots along the graph, in an array of light blue, yellow, orange, and red. Light blue represents declining careers, yellow up to ten percent growth, orange ten to thirty percent growth, and red above thirty percent growth. Perhaps the best features of What Career Should I Choose? is the hover over graphic function. You can mosey on over to these dots and get a quick glance of data regarding each career listed.

This tool is very useful to HR pros. Learning about industry standard wages and growth, in any number of industries provides a quick and easy reference for any number of data queries. It’s also incredibly apt at doing what it’s designed to do, which is aid students and others who are looking for a career. If you have a general idea of some categories you’d like to work in, you can easily see which careers within those categories are the best bet. With red dots being red hot in job growth! So check out this great resource for HR pros and students. It’s never been easier to see which fields are prosperous, and thus, a wise investment.

Last week, I wrote about the awful interviews millennials were responsible for being involved in. While I scolded the authors of the piece for painting all millennials with the same brush, it’s also undeniable, that many members of Gen Y need help when it comes to finding work. The job market now, is more tough and competitive than ever before. Everyone could use a little edge in their job search. Millennials face the additional challenge of not having years of experience under their belts. So here’s some tips from an employed, professional millennial, on how to get the job of your dreams.

Stop Looking for Jobs, Start Looking for Work

When people are on the hunt for a new job, they tend to have a fairly specific, ideal situation in mind. Maybe it’s a cushy, full-time, office job with regular hours and full benefits. Or maybe you have an exciting, and fulfilling position at a non-profit in mind. While neither of these positions are unobtainable by any means, they are bound to be a heck of a lot more competitive than many other open positions.

You know where I have found both of my current jobs? The craigslist gigs section. While many people stare at me, jaw agape when I tell them that, it’s one hundred percent true. I’m an independent contractor. While these “gigs” were only part-time, freelance work initially, my positions grew with me over time, turning into full-time, work-at-home, dream jobs. This day and age, the more unorthodox the route you go to get work, the better. So quit scouring Monster and Careerbuilder for the perfect job, and start looking for people who have work for you. While it may seem inconsequential, and not ideal, it may turn into something better than you could have even imagined.

Master Your Professional Online Presence

So you have a Tumblr with a thousand followers where you share pictures of sloths and kitties. That’s great, and could possibly even be used to leverage a social media savvy position. Possibly, but probably not. Unless you’re going to work for a sloth meme generating company, employers are going to want to see a more composed, professionally relevant, online presence to be impressed enough to interview, and eventually hire you. Mastering your online presence doesn’t have to mean being inauthentic, or sterile online, it just means putting some effort into conjuring a professional image of yourself.

The first step in securing an effective online presence, is the Google search. Now if your name is Jennifer Johnson, it’s not going to be very easy, but it’s also not impossible. Try using a middle name on all professional profiles, to make your name more unique. Also be sure to include keywords about yourself in these profiles. Location, profession, and skills are all keywords to include to make yourself stand out. For example: Jennifer Kathleen Johnson, PR Professional, in Bismarck, ND. A few specifics can take you out of internet obscurity, and help you launch a vibrant online portfolio.

As for professional profiles, there are some must-haves. Make a Linkedin profile, or update the one you have to highlight accomplishments, and skills. Google Plus is becoming very important for young professionals also. Be sure these are updated, and show the most professional images of yourself possible. If you have a Facebook where you post less than professional information about yourself, make sure your privacy settings are as tight as possible (a public email address can be a killer), and if you are intent on keeping it, consider changing your name so it won’t show up in a Google search of yourself.

In all honesty, I have two Facebook profiles, one for my professional endeavors, and another for my weird college friends where I have a fake name, and no real pictures of myself. Interestingly enough, I use both to promote my work from time to time, so it’s actually useful for me. If you Google search my name, the first thing to pop up is my Linkedin, then my Google plus, (both are very professional) then after that it’s blog posts I’ve done. Which is another great way to cultivate an online presence, relevant, professional blog posts. Oh, and that sloth Tumblr of yours? Go ahead and keep it, but, depending on your line of work, just don’t have your real name attached to it.

Put Down your Smart Phone, Tablet, and Laptop, and Learn to Talk In Person

One big complaint about millennials, is our utter lack of in-person communication skills. Turns out raising kids on Napster and Nickelodeon has made for a generation of painfully awkward twenty and thirty somethings who have taken bombing interviews to a whole new level. Not everyone in Gen Y is this way, but enough are that a few basic in-person skills need to be addressed.

When applying for a job in-person, or interviewing, look the person in charge, and everyone, in the eye. Eye contact is a crucial in-person social skill that many employers complain millennials lack. Also, allow the person to talk, listen carefully, but also interject when necessary. When someone asks you your biggest flaw in an interview (which pretty much everyone does) don’t stutter and say nothing. You know this question is going to be asked, so have something prepared. I always say I’m a procrastinator. It’s the truth, and it’s a flaw many employers can relate to. I also make sure to point out that I have no trouble meeting deadlines, but I often wait a little too long to get started. If you know you get nervous, practice. Print out a list of common interview questions, and have a friend or family member ask you them.

Get up, Get out, and Get SOMETHING

The fact is, in a tough job market, sometimes you’re not going to get your dream job. As long as you’re receiving a paycheck however, you’re helping yourself get to the next level of your life, and that’s what’s important. So get creative in your search, make yourself stand out as a candidate, and make sure your social skills are tuned up, and you shouldn’t have trouble finding work. It may not be exactly what you imagined, but it may turn out to be something better than you could have dreamed.

By bpsusf CC-BY-2.0 via Wikimedia CommonsThis afternoon, I was scrolling down my Twitter feed, when I saw something that caught my eye. It was a link to this article, Managers to Millennials: Job Interview No Time to Text, on CNBC. While texting during an interview is obviously a terrible idea, the article goes on to rail millennials in a fashion that I find to be down-right generalizing. Using anecdotal evidence to judge any group of people as a whole, much less an entire generation, seems like sloppy reporting at best, and promoting discriminatory behavior at worst. To me, the article screamed of hiring managers attempting to justify their own bias. Some of the stories they shared, are obviously outliers, but are too good not to repeat.

Aside from the texting and calling during interviews, which these particular managers claim happens fairly frequently, they told a few more gems.  A man in his late twenties bringing his father to an interview was one example. Another was a father calling to negotiate pay for his recent college grad son. Those two were regarding helicopter parents, which in my opinion, is just as much the parent’s fault.

The last one, which really takes the prize: A WOMAN BROUGHT HER CAT TO AN INTERVIEW. Obviously that’s not normal behavior! Maybe the crazy people in our generation find new ways of showing it, but don’t tell me we’re the first generation to blow interviews, because that’s nonsense. To claim this extreme behavior is indicative of an entire generation is just as silly as the behavior mentioned.

Some commenters on the site, had already pointed out much of what I’m saying. One commenter in particular, had a particularly insightful comment. User lumpkinj, said this:

“This is not a new phenomenon. Not everyone has the drive or understanding that it takes to excel in a professional career. Some folks prefer to go through the motions and settle for a 9-5…. While taking a phone call or responding to an email/text in an interview is absolutely ludicrous, I’m sure that interviewees from prior technological generations found ways to completely blow interviews as well.” The comment read.

“Unlike prior generations, more and more students come out of school with upwards of a quarter million dollars in debt and are competing against higher and higher amounts of college grads and MBA’s. While some of the folks described above stick out like a sore thumb in the interview process – the job pool is arguably more qualified and driven than perhaps ever before.” lumpkinj continued.

The job pool is much more competitive due to an excess of well-educated people, like lumpkinj pointed out. In addition to there being more qualified candidates, there’s less jobs. It’s tough enough for millennials as it is, without having older generations bash us in the media based on some extreme behavior from a select few. Replace recent college grads with a race, gender, or sexual orientation, and see how ignorant and bigoted the language in that article, and articles like it sound. Not to compare this struggle to any of those others, because it’s obviously not as harrowing. All in all, I think it’s just inappropriate for anyone, especially hiring managers, to generalize, and complain about a large group of people. It’s called generalizing.

Online Human Resources’ main writer, Emily Manke, was featured in the women in business blog, The Jane Dough. The column, titled “How Millennial Women can Help Close the Wage Gap,” speaks about the growing number of women in business and leadership postions, and the positive effect it’s having on businesses. OHR and Manke, remain committed to helping gather and distribute information regarding issues with women in education and the workplace.

The topic of gen y women in the workplace is one OHR is familiar with. Perhaps in anticipation of this topic, OHR has covered workplace issues regarding both gen y, and women in the workplace. With gen y set to take over the workplace in the next 30 years, and women’s role in business steadily increasing, it makes sense that we would prepare for this shift with research, and thoughtful consideration. Hopefully this preparation will pay off in the form of happy, engaged gen y and women workers.

“How Millennial Women can Help Close the Wage Gap,” focuses on a number of pertinent issues related to women in the workplace. Gender pay inequality, women in leadership positions, women entering the workplace in large numbers globally, and flexible work options, are all factored into the gender wage gap, and howq women in the workplace, and gen y, is closing it once and for all. There are a number of factors at play when it comes to why pay inequality exists, and how we can end it.

Aside from women’s excellent performance both academically, and in the workplace, Manke points to technology, to help aid in allowing flexibility for working moms, and ultimately ending pay inequality.

“Technology and globalization are increasing the prevalence of virtual, flexible workplaces. This is hopeful for women in the workplace, not only because it’s better for all women, but because it can be a godsend for working mothers.” Manke explains. “While we may be a long way from paid maternity leave in the US, which is an integral part of obtaining gender pay equality, flexible work hours and telecommuting are part of the solution for working mothers.”

So while pay inequality, and an unequal representation of women in leadership positions does still exist, we are making progress. Women in Gen Y aren’t used to being told they can’t do something because of their gender. Couple that, with the fact that technology is making remote working a real, feasible option, and a lack of maternity leave won’t be able to excuse pay inequality for much longer. Hopefully, as the research roles in, and more and more people stand up for what’s right, pay inequality of all kinds, will eventually be a thing of the past.

Workday, for those of you who don’t already know, is a cloud-based finance and Human Resources software app. This groundbreaking software, allows finance and HR pros to update pertinent information from anywhere, any time. Cloud-based apps like this, are truly changing the face of finance and HR. The Wall Street Journal Article, titled Workday Re-imagines Customization; Enables HR and Finance to Tailor Applications Without Breaking the Update Process, offers in depth analysis of the update.

The new update, Workday 19, has 170 new features, allowing for more in-depth customization for users. One unique, and awesome way Workday formulated these changes, was a forum they created called Workday Brainstorm. Customers offered feedback and suggestions for Workday on the forum, and apparently Workday listened. About seventy of the updates, came straight from this forum.

The recent update allows finance and HR  pros to customize the app, based on customer needs, industry specifics, and company policies. They also created a native Android app. In the past, updates to Workday 19 were time consuming, and often required a total system reboot. Altering the software to change something that isn’t vitally important, is often times not important. These customizations, make the software much more useful, easy, and efficient.

Athenahealth is a medical practice management and Electronic Health Records Firm. Margo Hendrickson is there Vice President of Human Resources. Hendrickson is familiar with Workday, and has had an opportunity to use Workday 19. She weighed in on the importance of these updates.

“Customization in the cloud is a significant innovation, because we can now tailor the Workday application to our specific needs without the worry that it will be complex or costly,” said Hendrickson. “With Workday’s custom fields and labels, we will be able to better communicate our brand and culture through the application to make key processes easy to understand, increasing efficiency for our workforce and reducing the extra support needed from HR so we can focus on other strategic initiatives within the business.”

There’s a number of programs, apps and/or software that HR pros can use to make their workplace more efficient. It seems that Workday is leading the way when it comes to cloud-based HR apps. These new features, some created just for customers, will certainly make current ones happy, and likely draw in new ones as well. Finance and HR pros work in a number of industries, cultures, and cater to a number of business practices. The software these pros use should reflect that. Workday has done a fine job of creating a useful, and customizable program.

Gen Y women are making headway when it comes to equality in the workplace, and HR pros should take note. Women are representing an increasing amount of the Bachelors, Masters, and PhD graduates in the US. Business is also changing, with more females in management positions. While a gender pay gap still exists, it seems the tide is slowly changing towards equality. It will be interesting to see how the impact of a more involved, educated, female workforce will evolve the workplace.

A 2012 study called THE STATE OF YOUNG AMERICA, found that women are dominating on campuses around the country. In high schools in 2010, females students earned 3% more diplomas than the male students. That’s an improvement, compared to 1975, when 3% more male students earned diplomas, a complete reversal.  In 1975, 6% more males than females had completed a bachelor’s degree. In 2010, 8% more females earned bachelor’s degrees than males. According to a study done by Catalina Leadership, women in the US are earning 51% of the doctorate degrees, they comprise 51% of business school applicants, 67% of college graduates, and over 70% of 2012′s Valedictorians. It appears that women are going for it academically. Is it showing in Gen Y’s workforce, however?

Unfortunately, when it comes to working, women still have a ways to go before the achieve gender pay equality. In an infographic displaying data from a survey conducted by PayScale, Gen Y women were found to earn significantly less than men in the same generation. Payscale surveyed 500,000 Gen Y workers, from July 2011 to July 2012. Gen Y workers were defined as anyone born from 1982 to 1993. According to the survey, women earned an average of $35,000 annually, while males earned $44, 600.

The types of jobs women are pursuing seem to be hindering their earning abilities. The most lucrative of the three popular career choices named for Gen Y women by PayScale’s survey, is a Registered Nurse. An RN can average annual salary of $50,200. The other two top career choices named for Gen Y women, were office manager and administrative assistant at an annual salary of $32,600 and $29,300 respectively. For men, the top earning popular career named by PayScale, was a software developer, which earn an average annual salary of $61,900. The other two popular choices named, were mechanical engineers, and web developers. Mechanical engineers earn an average annual salary of $59,300, while web developers earn, $45,100. It seems a recent push for women in the STEM fields is not without merit. Perhaps, as women begin to pursue more STEM careers, the gender pay gap will close.

Women are earning more degrees, and doing better in school than their male contemporaries. While women seem to shy away from STEM fields, and still earn significantly less, it is encouraging to find that females are taking on leadership positions, as indicated by the popular career choice of office manager. Hopefully, as Gen Y women continue to push forward in education and the workplace, the positions chosen, and salary earned, will reflect this. HR pros should take notice of these ambitious female workers, and see to it that they are paid fairly, and reaching their potential.

By Employeeperformance (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsSince 2008, any employer would be lying if they didn’t admit that it’s an hirer’s market. Any HR pro knows, if you’re hiring, there’s a sea of qualified candidates out there ready to fill any given position. While an improving economy is music to nearly everyone’s ears, there may be some unseen consequences for employers. All of those underpaid, under-appreciated employees that have been put on the back burner and mistreated, may finally have the opportunity to quit. If rewards and recognition, and company culture, are priorities for your business, then this shouldn’t be an issue. If you’ve perhaps grown a bit advantageous in the last few years however, you may want to rethink your position, or you’ll be in for a negative surprise.

Many employers have grown confident that employees won’t leave, not because of what they’re offering them, but because of the lack of work elsewhere. As the job market improves, so will opportunities for employees. Employees aren’t likely to forget all of the extra hours worked, lack of pay raises, and lack of any appreciation at all from their employers.

“Most companies are probably not fully prepared for all the … pent up turnover that is likely to come when the job market really turns around,” said business professor at the University of Memphis, David G. Allen.

Allen is in a unique position to comment on this topic, because he has studied retention, and employee turnover quite thoroughly. Many employers struggle with finding qualified talented, but don’t focus on attracting and retaining it. Qualified employees are always going to be able to find work elsewhere, regardless of the economy. So instead of focusing on recruiting, perhaps employers should focus on making their company one employees want to work at.

“People are saying that they can’t find the right talent, and yet when they do, they don’t take such good care of it,” said senior vice president of AMA Enterprise, an offshoot of the American Management Association, Sandi Edwards. AMA Enterprise helps companies improve their employees.

Any employer out there who thinks that they can get away with treating employees poorly because of the economy, is going to be in for a rude awakening. Rewarding and recognizing hard work, and fostering a positive workplace culture, are not only ways to make your workers more happy, healthy, and productive, they help improve retention as well. So HR pros, maybe the economy has lulled you and your associates into a false sense of security, thinking that the power is all in your hands, and your employees will be forced to put up with less than ideal working conditions. If that’s the case, the don’t be surprised if as soon as the economy becomes strong again, you get a wave of two week notices. No matter how you look at it, high turnover is not good for business.

No matter how you feel about the affordable care act, one thing is for certain: accessible preventative care will end up lowering healthcare costs in the long run. The more studies are done, and data is collected, the more it becomes abundantly clear, preventative care saves money. Unfortunately, it comes too late for many of the obese, and otherwise unhealthy people in our country. It’s not however, too late for the next generation. So before we all start griping about the high cost of insuring our workforce, let’s stop for a minute and consider the long-term savings.

First and foremost, let’s take a look at the money we have been losing due to unhealthy employees. A Gallup poll from 2011, found that health-related absenteeism costs US companies $153 billion in lost productivity. While no amount of preventative care will avoid absenteeism due to health altogether, it seems logical that with a better system for preventative care in place, this number will be reduced.

There have been a number of case studies indicating the money-saving capabilities of preventative medicine. From wellness plans, to mandatory check-ups, businesses already know that preventative care ends up saving money in the long run. When you begin to look at healthcare more holistically, you’ll find a number of surprising results.

A recent study by Cigna found that people who treated their gum disease were 2/3 less likely to visit the hospital, 1/2 as likely to have to make an ER trip, and saved over one thousand dollars in medical costs. Suddenly Obama’s decision to provide kids with dental begins to make sense. When you take one small part of health, such as dental care, and put it in the context of overall health, it begins to make sense why preventative medicine is so important.

Case studies, and lost productivity aren’t going to be enough to convince some people of the necessity of preventative care. There’s also no denying that the upfront costs for universal healthcare are going to be somewhat painful. That said, when you begin to look at healthcare through a holistic lens, preventative care begins to seem like a wise investment.

Image By Keith Ellison (President Obama Signing The Health Care Bill)

This week, I was lucky enough to be a featured guest blogger for Women of HR. My blog entry, titled Gender Pay Equity and Parental Leave, touched on the fact that pay equality will be difficult, if not impossible to achieve without paid parental leave. The post referenced my interview with Melanie Hulbert, about many of the same subjects. My challenge to you HR pros, is how can you leverage your power and position, to help bring these goals to fruition?

In most developed countries, paid parental leave is considered a given, not a luxury. With the firestorm of controversy surrounding basic healthcare in this country, it’s safe to say paid parental leave isn’t on the forefront of issues. When comparing the US to it’s international counterparts, it becomes obvious that the US may want to consider making it a priority.

Here’s some excerpts from: Gender Pay Equity and Parental Leave

“Paid Leave in the States, the US is one of four countries in the world that have no federal law requiring paid time off for new parents. Liberia, Papua New Guinea, and Swaziland are the other three.”

“A 2011 report by Janet Walsh, deputy director of the women’s rights division of Human Rights Watch, “Failing its Families,“ reports that while over fifty nations guarantee paid leave for dads, a mere estimated 10% of non-government workers have paid parental leave in the US”"

“Sweden’s paternity-leave policy, instituted in 1974, is one of the best in the world. In Sweden, the government will pay new parents a maximum of 80% of their salary up to approximately $65,000, for thirteen months. Both parents are legally required to contribute, with fathers (or mothers, depending) required to take at least two of those months. As a result, government statistics indicate that almost all Swedish fathers take off the minimum two months, at least. That said, Sweden still has a long way to go, with women still earning less than men, and women taking 76% of the parental leave according to Statistics Sweden (SCB) in 2011.”

It may be a cliche, but children truly are the future. If we don’t begin to make it easier for them and their parents, to provide basic care for their children, we may be in for some trouble. We should begin looking to countries who do well economically, and still manage to provide this basic care for it’s citizens.

Gen Y, like the two generations before it, has a bum rap. Accused of being lazy, entitled, and over-confident, it seems that the only influence they’d have on their workplace is a negative on.  What’s not being widely discussed however, is what Gen Y is bringing to the table. With their seemingly lofty demands, rogue sensibilities, and alternate priorities, come perks that all workers will benefit from. Flexible telecommuting policies, intrinsic priorities, and more equality for women and minorities are both ways in which Gen Y is using the lessons it learned from coming of age in a failed economy and being raised with an emphasis on self-esteem.

Gen Y prioritizes flexibility and technology more than any generation ever has.  In a 2012 study, it was found that organizations plan on reducing office space by 17% by 2020. With cloud computing, and mobile technology, it’s just really unnecessary to have every employee attached to a nine-to-five desk job.

Gen Y is the first generation to place more value on happiness and helping others, than a high-paying career. According to the The Millennial Generation Research Review, by the National Chamber Foundation, only 7%  of millennials, compared to 15% of Gen Xers, place excelling at a high salary job as a top priority. As with Gen X, Geny Y places more value in family, personal relationships, and happiness than money.

Young women seem to be dominating in education. Approximately 60% of recent B.A. graduates are female, according to the most recent BLS reports. The number of stay at home dads is increasing, and the number of female leaders are rising. Get ready to see more Marissa Mayers out there. Not only are women going to become more prominent leaders as Gen Y takes over the workplace, but people of all races will likely have more opportunity.

“Young people are more tolerant of races and groups than older generations (47% vs. 19%), with 45% agreeing with preferential treatment to improve the position of minorities. This may be attributable to the diversity of the generation itself, which recalls that of the silent generation. The shifting population is evidenced with 60% of 18 – 29 year olds classified as non-Hispanic white, versus 70% for those 30 and older. This reflects a record low of whites, with 19% Hispanic, 14% black, 4%Asian, and 3% of mixed race or other. Additionally, 11% of Millennials are born to at least one immigrant parent” Reads the The Millennial Generation Research Review by the National Chamber Foundation.

    So before you go criticizing Jessica or Michael (the most common names of those born in the 80’s and 90’s), try to remember what they’re bringing to the table. Also, consider the fact that it’s significantly harder for them to succeed than it was for you, which is likely the reason they’re more skeptical and less loyal to employers. If Gen Y succeeds at making workplaces value flexibility, personal lives, and equality, everyone will win.

Image by World Economic Forum from Cologny, Switzerland (Better Choices: GroupUploaded by January) [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons