I was asked the question, “Is leaving a job on bad terms ever okay?” I believe that how a person leaves each and every relationship (professional or personal) is likely a measure of their character. And if not their character, then certainly their personality. The exception to this is if you leave during the initial […]

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, […]

Should I go to college?  What is the true cost of college?  Is it a good investment?  What is the cost of opportunity lost?  On the whole college graduates make more money, but how much, and will it guarantee me a job that I love?  Clearly there is value, but is it something other than […]

According to CareerXRoads, in 2012 of the companies polled less than 1.2% of new hires came from the mega job boards Monster.com or CareerBuilder.  That means that 98.8% of those who uploaded all of their personal information wasted their time.  What does that mean for all of your personal information?  Who has it?  How is […]

I’ve interviewed people for jobs, who themselves were very skilled and very qualified in terms of the job criteria, who were about as transparent as a brick wall. They had good looking resumes, said all the right words, came across well, but because I couldn’t see into their world and they were blocking me out, I didn’t have confidence in sending them in for an interview with my client.

Almost daily I lament the scarcity of women in the construction trades.  And further.. the few women that I do see often settle for jobs in demolition.  Or worse…they call themselves decorators!  Not that there is anything wrong with those jobs––it’s just that there is so much more opportunity out there!  All of the skilled trade sectors […]

Last week I met with an OSHA representative to discuss the upcoming enforcement of the residential fall protection rules that have been on the books since the 1990’s. As promised, he followed up with an email loaded with good information that I thought I’d pass on to our readers.   The link below will take you to […]

Jacob Goldstein of Planet Money breaks down unemployment six different ways in his article of April 1, 2011.  Most interesting to me was what is depicted by this graph.  This graph is a very broad picture of the United States, but I’ve suspected all along that when so many of our skilled tradesmen took a […]

New York recently enacted the New York State Construction Industry Fair Play Act.   The new law, which becomes effective on October 26, 2010, provides that any person performing services for a construction contractor or subcontractor is deemed an employee unless they are a separate business entity that meets all of the following twelve criteria: […]

After April 22, 2010 the law requires a minimum on one 8-hr EPA Renovators Certification available at all times.   Those not in compliance will risk being fined.   A 4-hr re-certification class is required every five years. Who needs it?   Contractors, property owners/managers and anyone who is doing renovation work for compensaton that […]

If you made $12 an hour in 2008 as a helper, today you are not only competing with everyone of your own caliber, you are also competing with a lot of folks that used to make $15 or $16. As I said when I started this post – I am not saying that you should get discouraged. I am saying that you might need to step up your game.

What’s your strategy for getting your resume out? If you’re like so many, it’s to blanket the planet with your resume. When you’re sending out hundreds of resumes, custom cover letters may feel like a burden. My suggestion—send less, but put more into them. More than likely your objective statement tells your prospective employer that you are […]