Sunday, August 8, 2010

“In job search, salary information often requires digging a little deeper” plus 3 more

“In job search, salary information often requires digging a little deeper” plus 3 more

In job search, salary information often requires digging a little deeper

Posted: 07 Aug 2010 09:00 PM PDT

The job looks enticing and the commute would be half your current one. But the pay? Who knows? The ad doesn't mention it and the company offers nothing on its Web site to clue you in.

If you're looking for a new position, you also may want to start your due diligence -- your search for the salary skinny -- right away. Salary information from a previous search, even as recent as a year ago, may no longer be relevant.

"Salary data is volatile and it changes constantly," said Deborah Keary, human resources director for the for the Society of Human Resource Management, an Alexandria-based professional association. In other words, your dream job may not pay as much as you dreamed.

In the past two years, millions of people's salaries were reduced or frozen, or their positions were turned into contract jobs without benefits. Vacation days and pay raises dropped from sight last year in many sectors, though salaries are climbing back now.

Top-performing staffers around the Washington metro area can expect raises of 3.9 percent, on average, this year, which is higher than the national average reported in a recent salary survey by WorldatWork, a human resources association based in Scottsdale, Ariz. The highest-rated staffers -- one fourth of all workers -- will collect more, but the bottom quarter may get meager raises or none at all this year, WorldatWork officials said.

The average pay increase nationwide this year is 2.5 percent -- below the gains of 3.5 percent or more that had been logged in recent years.

"You can't expect a lot of money unless you're a really good performer," Keary said.

If you win a promotion, that could bump up your pay 7 to 15 percent, according to Paul Rowson, managing director at WorldatWork's D.C. office. "Top performers tend to be considered for promotions faster than average performers," he said. Either way, you're likely to earn more if you know the market's pay rates and your own worth in today's job market.

Here's are four strategies for learning more about pay and benefits:

-- If you already work for the organization, simply go to the human resources department and ask. This may work for some outside candidates, too, especially if they are finalists for the job. "Transparency is an up-and-coming thought," Keary said.

-- Check recent job postings specific to the city and industry where you want to work and to your level of experience. Exclude contract jobs (unless that is what you're seeking), because their base pay is much higher. Recruiters also can be great sources, Rowson said.

-- Use Web sites to learn a ballpark estimate of market salaries, Keary suggests.

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With bleak job market forcing many to retire early, Social Security facing first ever shortfall

Posted: 08 Aug 2010 10:32 AM PDT

MIAMI— Paul Skidmore's office is shuttered, his job gone, his 18-month job search fruitless and his unemployment benefits exhausted. So at 63, he plans to file this week for Social Security benefits, three years earlier than planned.

"All I want to do is work," said Skidmore, of Finksburg, Md., who was an insurance claims adjuster for 37 years before his company downsized and closed his office last year. "And nobody will hire me."

It is one of the most striking fallouts from the bad economy: Social Security is facing its first-ever shortfall this year as a wave of people like Skidmore opt to collect payments before their full retirement age. Adding to the strain on the trust are reduced tax collections sapped by the country's historic unemployment — still at 9.5 percent.

More people filed for Social Security in 2009 — 2.74 million — than any year in history, and there was a marked increase in the number receiving reduced benefits because they filed ahead of their full retirement age. The increase came as the full Social Security retirement age rose last year from 65 to 66.


Almost 72 percent of men who filed opted for early benefits in 2009, up from 58 percent the previous year. More women also filed — 74.7 percent in 2009 compared with 64.2 percent the previous year.

Jason Fichtner, an associate commissioner at the Social Security Administration, said the weak economy has led more people who lost their jobs to retire early. However, it also has forced some people hard-hit by the recession and in need of a bigger paycheck to push back retirement and stay in the work force longer.

"But we're seeing more people taking early benefits than staying in the workforce longer," Fichtner said.

Like Skidmore, 63-year-old Jan Gissel of Tustin, Calif., also was forced into retirement early. She turned to unemployment benefits when her technical support business failed and filed for Social Security last September. Together, the checks are keeping her afloat.

"I knew I had to have an income from somewhere, and my business wasn't giving it to me," she said. "I just went online and, boom, three weeks later I had the check."

Gissel wants to continue working but still hasn't found a job. Although she didn't expect to be cashing Social Security checks so soon, she's grateful for the support it has provided.

"I needed it way earlier than I thought," she said.

In the annual report of the Social Security program released Thursday, the trustees said that pension and disability payments will exceed revenues for this year and 2011, reflecting the deep recession.

The report forecast that the program would return to the black in 2012 through 2014, but that benefit payments will again exceed tax collections in 2015. For every year after 2015, the report projects that Social Security will be paying out more than it receives in tax collections as 78 million baby boomers begin retiring.

The trustees did not focus on the growth of early retirees in their report, as they don't expect the early retirees to significantly drain funds over the long-term. Early opt-ins receive smaller monthly checks so that they aren't projected to receive any more money over a lifetime than they would if they had waited to collect Social Security until their full retirement age.

People entitled to full benefits at 66 would receive 75 percent of their check if they began collecting four years early. Conversely, if they waited until they turned 70, collecting four years late, they would earn 32 percent more.

They would receive the decreased — or increased — percentages for the rest of their life.

"From the trustees' perspective it's a wash, because they calculate you'll get the same total benefit," said Maria Freese, director of government relations and policy at the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.

Freese added, though, that beneficiaries generally only opt in early because they have to.

"When you retire early, you are taking a hit in your monthly check, and most people don't do that voluntarily," she said. "They either do that because they aren't healthy enough to keep working or because they lost their job."

Nora Lopez, 62, of Hialeah, retired from her job as an elementary school teacher last year and began collecting Social Security. She did so, in part, because of health problems. When her school district offered teachers the option of keeping their health insurance coverage until they qualified for Medicare at 65, she decided she could get by on her pension and Social Security.

"I wanted to work as long as I could," she said. "But it was hard for me to do that."

For some, it's simply a matter of doing the math that prompts them to cash in early. Jack Dixon, 63, of Naples, stopped working full-time in April as a trolley driver and tour guide, cutting back to one day a week. He decided to do it after his wife figured out they'd be able to get by even with the reduced Social Security benefit.

"Why should I go out there to the hustle and bustle and stress and all the stuff that's related to work if I don't have to?" he asked.

Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Search firm: ASU could have new president by January

Posted: 08 Aug 2010 11:59 AM PDT

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The director of an executive search firm hired by Arkansas State University says ASU could have a new system president by January.

Search for new city planner winding down

Posted: 08 Aug 2010 08:06 AM PDT

Josh Rhoten

The search for Buffalo's new city planner is nearing completion as the candidate pool has been culled to four. Those candidates will be asked for a personal interview soon.

The planner position opened up this spring when former planner Brian Grubb was let go by mayor Robert "Skip" Hancock for what was described by the mayor as "performance issues."

This will be the third time in a little over a year that the city will hire a new planner, as the applicant before Grubb failed to report to duty in early July 2009. 

 "We used the same criteria for longevity with this application pool as we did with the last group," said search committee member Mike Johnson. "We have asked this group, like the last, in the different interviews how long they intend to stay in the community and what their long term goals were."

While getting a planner to stay longer than a year has become a tricky task for the city, the search committee is also trying to focus on finding someone who is well qualified for the job.

"They are going to be asked to do a lot in the office from working with G.I.S. maps to interacting with the other department heads on a regular basis," said Johnson. "When I was going through the applications I looked specifically at their experience in those fields and situations."

Buffalo Planning Commission Chairman Steve Reimann ≠≠≠said he looked for similar qualifications as he read the applications.

"We are really trying to find someone with a bachelor's and a master's in planning at the very least," he said. "We want someone who can walk into the door and tell us what is going on, not someone we have to train."

a few applicants for the position, which was advertised in numerous locations including trade magazines and classified ads in the region.

"We really want to hire someone who is interested in being part of this community for a while and wants to work with organizations like the Buffalo Development Association for a long period of time," said Reimann. "We are looking for someone who is going to be here for longer than 16 to 18 months."

According to Johnson, the search committee will submit their recommendation to the mayor by the end of August. From there the mayor will bring the recommendation to the City Council for approval and that will complete the hiring process.

"We should have our decision made by the end of August but I don't think it will get to the council until Sept. 7 (their first meeting in September) at the earliest," said Johnson.

The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of buffalobulletin.com.

Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.
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