Friday, April 24, 2026

Salary Transparency

  Salary Transparency


State of California Employment Law (SB 1162) requires the disclosure of pay scales in job openings for all positions, internal and external, with “pay scale” defined as the salary or hourly wage the employer reasonably expects to pay for a position. The pay scale does not need to include bonuses, commissions, tips, or other benefits.


This new pay transparency requirement for businesses with 15 or more employees extends not just to job postings on a company website but to third-party platforms such as LinkedIn or Indeed as well.


There are other states across the USA that have similar statutes.  If the job postings does not meet this criteria, you need to wonder why the company is hiding the "wage range".


++++++++++++++++++++++

Thursday, April 23, 2026

Is your Resume Flawed - Reliance on Job Titles

 Is your Resume Flawed - Reliance on Job Titles


While job titles are important (I could and will write about this in coming posts), the hiring manager will likely understand the functions you perform. In short, she / he knows what sales people do, what IT project managers do, what servers do. What they want to see are your successes / accomplishments:


1. Grew account base from 10 to 30.

2. Planned and managed a $250K software migration

3. Check average per person was 20% hiring than other staff.


Get the point?

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ)

  Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ)


By federal law (42 U.S. Code § 2000e-2) allows for an employer to discriminate against employees and potential employees "on the basis of his religion, sex, or national origin in those certain instances where religion, sex, or national origin is a BFOQ reasonably necessary to the normal operation of that particular business or enterprise." For example, a bona fide occupational qualification could be made that a priest must be Catholic. Race and color, however, are never bona fide occupational qualifications. 


What the statute above does not elaborate on is that unless you are a model, actor / actress, etc., no matter good looking you may be, it is not a BFOQ for employment. In fact, many employers will automatically disqualify a candidate if a picture is on the resume.


In short, keep your picture off the resume.


+++++++++++++++++++

Tuesday, April 21, 2026

Job Market Issues - Younger Workers (Signs of a Reversal)

Job Market Issues - Younger Workers (Signs of a Reversal)

After years of steady deterioration, there are early signs entry-level hiring is picking up. A widely watched survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers out Monday shows employers expect to boost new-graduate hires by 5.6% this spring from a year ago—a turnaround from their much grimmer forecasts last fall

Another recent survey by ZipRecruiter found nearly a third of employers planned to hire a greater share of entry-level workers this year than the previous one. Big companies such as McKinsey and International Business Machines say they have also increased graduate hiring this year.

Rationale: Those signals suggest that, for now, some employers feel the need to replenish their pipelines of entry-level workers after holding back for several seasons. In some cases, artificial intelligence is spurring hires by enabling companies to expand services and product lines, said NACE President Shawn VanDerziel.   

More  on this topic later today.

Source: WSJ.com

Monday, April 20, 2026

Job Market Issues - Younger Workers

From today's New York Times:

Young workers tend to suffer more during economic downturns, in part because companies become less willing to hire inexperienced, entry-level employees. During the aftermath of the Great Recession, the unemployment rate for people in their early to mid-20s spiked to 16%+. The pandemic brought an even bigger surge in joblessness, though young people benefited once the economy reopened and employers raced to fill open positions.

Recent graduates generally fare better than people without degrees in periods of weak hiring, and this moment is no different. While the gap has narrowed in recent years, the unemployment rate for recent college graduates remains lower than for all young workers. Young people with college degrees remain more likely to be employed and to have higher paying jobs.


Job Market News - Low-hire; Low-fire

 More about "low-hire, low-fire" -


Job openings have been trending down (down 19.1% from Feb 2024 - Feb 2026) for non - farm operations jobs. These is below prepandemic levels even as layoffs have remained low. A result has been a broad hiring slowdown that has hurt all new entrants to the labor market, a group that includes young workers (w/ and w/ out college degrees).


“There’s just a general slowdown in hiring and less churn,” said Adam Ozimek, the chief economist at the Economic Innovation Group, a nonpartisan think tank. “And so those who need their first jobs are probably disproportionately affected.”


Source: NYT

Job Market News:

 Job Market News:


While there are numerous variables that have contributed to this whacky job market, the term "low-hire; low-fire", best describes job market stagnation with historically low layoff rates and few new hiring. Do not get fooled by the news, low worker churn is caused by hiring freezes (esp. at the junior levels) due to economic unpredictability as well as workers "job hugging" (not leaving their jobs due to the perceived lack of new opportunities. Companies are hesitant about growing their workforce but do not want to layoff / fire because of the recent difficulty in filling roles.


I will explore this topic in the coming days.

Friday, April 17, 2026

SCREENING THE RECRUITER

 SCREENING THE RECRUITER


Be sure to take a view minutes and "screen the recruiter" who sends you an unsolicited request for a resume for a position that you are "qualified". Use Google and LinkedIn. If you cannot get any relevant information about the recruiter or agency name, do not respond. More than likely, it is for a "fake" job.

Thursday, April 16, 2026

The Commoditized Worker

 Here is a quote from today's WSJ:


“Most companies, if not all, could cut 30% to 50% of their workforce at any time and see no material difference in performance,” said Mo Koyfman, founder of the venture-capital firm Shine Capital and a former executive at the media company IAC.


This tells me:


1. Companies know that the difference in performance between workers is small and if they can save money in the short haul, then pick back up again when needed, the can with ease. This means the the worker has been commoditizied.


Thoughts are encouraged.

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Job Offer- Negotiating

  

Job Offer- Negotiating

All of the below are subject for negotiation with most companies:

·        University Tuition Reimbursement

·        Professional Development

·        Day Care

·        Transportation Reimbursement

·        Health + Fitness (Gym Memberships)

·        Flexible Work Schedule

·        Vacations

·        PTO

·        Relocation

·        Title

·        Signing Bonus

·        Early Performance Review

·        Stock Options

·        Admission to travel clubs

·        Acceptance to Professional Organizations

·        Special Subscriptions

·        Company Cafeteria Allowance (not everyone works from home)

·        Office, Cubicle or Open Space

·        Technology Equipment (esp. if you work from home)

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Job Offer Evaluation -Stock Options

 Job Offer Evaluation -Stock Options

As you are evaluating a compensation package with stock option benefits, take some time to learn how stock options work and what they might be worth in the future. Under that all option plans are not the same and the "dilution" is a factor that you will need to consider.

My LI Profile - https://lnkd.in/gshNVy5

#allanbrown #jobsearchstrategies #joboffer #resumewriting