Posts filed under 'Web sites'
May 19th, 2008
Here’s an interesting site that scours the Web for references about a single name. Pipl.com is helpful if you’d like to find out what tidbits about you (or anyone) are orbiting out in cyberspace. This can be useful when you’re searching for a job because more and more hiring managers are using Google and other search engines to see what they can find out about applicants. If you can find that 20-year-old collections lawsuit on the Web, they can too.
I ran my name and found the last six addresses I’ve had .. in the last seven years. Hmmm… Does that mean potential bosses will think I’m shifty and unstable?
March 21st, 2008
Sometimes the Internet is like a used book store. You just amble around, poking through boxes and cubbyholes and occasionally you find gold. Like this Web site, Modern Mechanix.
It’s a blog full of old photos and advertisements, including one for a double-barrelled cigarette holder (from the days when smoking was good for you!) and offers to reach financial freedom by starting an indoor poultry farm.
But my favorite post is about a 1955 article on automation and how it would make everybody’s life easier in the ensuing two decades. It’s from Mechanix Illustrated, a defunct how-to magazine in the tradition of Popular Mechanics. Here’s the article’s money quote:
THE YEAR is 1975. For a man of 50 leaving a factory gate at five in the afternoon, you look remarkably fresh. Your light, comfortable-looking summer suit is pressed and spotless, your face and hands are free of grime, and your features show no sign of the strain that men once associated with the heat and noise of a big factory. There is an extra spring in your step as you walk toward the heliport, perhaps because this is Thursday. Your four-day work week is over, and ahead of you are three full days to call your own.
Few factory workers are punching out after 32 hours a week these days, but the article did make some accurate predictions about automation. Namely, that the big jumps in productivity would mean fewer factory jobs for workers.
March 20th, 2008
Ever wonder exactly what your employer can and can’t do to you under federal labor law? Or if your boss’ obnoxious comments qualify as sexual harassment? Or whether you should get paid for that 5-minute cigarette break?
Well, there’s a Web site that explains all the federal rules governing workers in straightforward question-and-answer format.
For instance, did you know that federal law does not guarantee you the right to a meal break during eight hours of work? Fewer than half the states have such guarantees (Illinois only protects break times for hotel workers in Cook County).
Nearly all employers give lunch breaks anyway because, well, it’s a smart thing to do to avoid open revolt among staff. I don’t know about you, but if my company forced me to go without food for eight hours, I would incite an uprising.
I’m not a union agitator. But when I get hungry, I’m not responsible for my actions.
Anyway, workplacefairness.org is a wealth of information about all facets of workers’ rights. Check it out.
March 17th, 2008
After four months locked out of brake foundry Gunite Corp., the United Auto Workers Local 718 went back to work today.
Now that the ordeal is over, I just discovered a Windows Live Spaces page run by the union that was used to keep members informed during the work stoppage.
Wish I would’ve found this site earlier because it would have made my job easier.
January 31st, 2008
There’s been a lot of talk about the effect of baby boomers’ looming retirements on the work force. But there’s some evidence to indicate that many will remain beyond traditional retirement age because of the cost of health care and paltry savings.
Some companies are taking advantage of this phenomenon and touting their willingness to hire older employees. While tales of ageism abound, there are employers eager to garner the experience those workers bring with them.
Here’s a Web site full of companies dubbed the National Employer Team; they’ve partnered with the AARP to attract older employees.
November 5th, 2007
One of the challenges facing working parents is finding good childcare. I got lucky, my four-year-old son has had the same licensed in-home provider since he was a year old. In-home is cheaper than the great big daycare facilities and gives me greater peace of mind.
We found our provider through word-of-mouth, but there are other resources to find childcare. I just discovered this site, Care.com, which is like a job board for would-be babysitters, nannies and daycare providers. You can search it without subscribing to the service, but if you want to run a background check on the babysitter or daycare provider, you’ve got to pay a $30 set-up fee and a $10 monthly subscription.
October 25th, 2007
Everything you ever wanted to know about the Illinois labor force but were afraid to ask is right here.
This is a Web site by the Illinois Department of Employment Security that I go to to dig up statistics on the local workforce. It has data like the unemployment rate over time, average wages, job employment by sector, you name it.
