For the last few months, headlines have included stories about how many people are out of work due to COVID and I think that has set up some unrealistic expectations amongst employers. I’ve had many conversations with employers who have a belief that there a lot of people on the market looking for work therefore […]
Author Archives: Marie Watkins
OP-ED: Employers, just say No to the payroll tax holiday
As of August 31, non-Federal employers have the option of not taking social security taxes from employee paychecks to give workers more spending money in this oh-so-odd year. The plan details are wonky, but an employer still has to pay their share of the Social Security tax (6.2% of the pay). Still, the employee will […]
Job seekers… please answer the phone
You say you want a job, but your actions tell us otherwise. Why do I say that? Because for the last three weeks, we had better than 80 percent of the people we were scheduled to interview for customer service jobs that paid well no-show when the time came. These are people that submitted a […]
HR Outsourcing, A Smart Move for Small Businesses
“To win the marketplace, you must first win the workplace.” Doug Conant, former CEO Campbell Soup Company Business owners know that people are their greatest asset but too many businesses don’t invest enough thought or money into making sure they hire the best people. Even if they are lucky enough to hire the best, they may […]
Payroll Protection Program, Hiring, and You
Admittedly, it’s been a rough few months to be a small business owner, especially if your work could not easily shift to be done at home. We’ve all had sleepless nights worrying about how we were going to take care of the people that rely on us to stay in business. I think we all […]
Working from home? Here are some tips
I’m sure you’ve seen the headlines that workers are being told to work from home as a way to minimize exposure to Corona Virus (COVID-19) and schools are moving classes online. On a positive note, we do have all the technology in place to make both working from home and online learning a huge success. […]
Companies say they’re hiring, so why is no one getting hired?
In recent months headlines have been full of news of estimates about open jobs that are going to be created in the Southeast Wisconsin region and it seems that a favorite bar topic is if Foxconn is or isn’t going to create 13,000 jobs “as promised.” Just as unemployment numbers are slippery and inaccurate, job […]
The Open Jobs Disparity
In recent months, news headlines have been full of estimates about the jobs that are going to be created in the Southeast Wisconsin region, and it seems that a favorite bar topic is whether or not Foxconn is going to create 13,000 jobs “as promised.” Just as unemployment numbers are slippery and inaccurate, jobs creation […]
Could your social media profile hurt your job search?
One of the questions I get asked is: Does HR or recruiting really looks at a person’s social media presence when making hiring decisions? While it may seem invasive or unfair that one may be judged by their online presence, what you put online is fair game even if it’s on your “private page” and […]
Are Most People Doing The Best They Can?
I recently took a deep dive into Brené Brown’s videos and books. If you haven’t yet discovered her, check out “The Call to Courage” on Netflix. Last night, I was reading “Rising Strong” in which she asks the question “Do you think, in general, most people are doing the best they can?” My gut reaction […]
Ways Job Seekers Sabotage Themselves
In my last post, I talked about how a job seeker needs to brand themselves in order to stand out in a competitive market. Knowing your brand and standing out will help you get your foot in the door, after which there are many ways to fail if you haven’t properly prepped yourself for the […]
Getting the Job: Tips from the Cereal Aisle
When was the last time you walked down the cereal aisle at the store? All those brands, all those colorful boxes (some with toys inside!) competing for a coveted spot in your shopping cart. It’s glorious and overwhelming at the same time. Some days, you know exactly which box you want and, other days, you […]
Entrepreneurship: How Racine women help businesses grow
Did you know that Racine was listed as one of the top places for women to start a business? In fact, Racine was 4th on a list put out in 2015 by NerdWallet and ranked well ahead of Washington DC (#7) and San Francisco (#9). Since 2016 I’ve had the pleasure to mentor newly emerging […]
