Technology jobs continue to grow in US, Atlanta

Technology jobs continue to grow in US, AtlantaTechnology jobs continue to grow in US, AtlantaAtlanta, the home of the Braves, Coca-Cola, and all things Ted Turner, is also the job center for the southeast. This month Simply Hired reports there are some 96,800 jobs available in the Atlanta area, with financial services, healthcare, and technology leading the way as the top hiring industries.Each month Simply Hired steps back, looks at the job posting data from the last month, and determines what it says about the US economy. We also highlight a metro area which enjoyed substantial hiring growth during that time.This month well be looking at Atlanta, Georgia. Jobs in the US grew 3.7% in October, Atlanta saw job openings increase 1.57% during that same time. While healthcare companies comprise 4 of the 5 top hiring companies, technology jobs also increased in Atlanta.During October IT was the top posting occupation, software developer also made the top 10. The growth in tech jobs shoul d not come as surprise. Atlanta has already firmly established itself as the hub for connectedcar technology on the east coastasFortune 500 companies like Panasonic, General Motors, and ATT have made substantial investments in the Atlanta area in the last few years. Venture capitalists also have been active in the Atlanta area,investing at the highest level since 2008.The tech growth is expected to continue in the Atlanta area as well. Just yesterday tech giant Salesforceannouncedit would double its staff in Atlanta.Unisys alsoannouncedyesterday their intention to add 700 jobs in the Augusta area. But the big companies arent the only story. Startups are becoming a fixture of the Atlanta economy as well.Venture Atlanta, the premier technology conference in Georgia, took place in October, and there was much focus on the new emerging technology, the Internet of Things (IoT). If you are unfamiliar with the term, it refers to the variety of smart devices now being developed, such as smar t appliances. The emergence of theIoT will be huge for job growth in Atlanta. Internet of Things hinges on two core technologies - wireless connectivity and sensors. Atlanta, a telecom hub dating back to the days ofBellSouthandScientific Atlanta, has world-class capabilities in those technologies.These are excited times for the Peach stateRead the full Employment Outlook report.

9 ways to recover from (and avoid) holiday party embarrassment

9 ways to recover from (and avoid) holiday party embarrassment9 ways to recover from (and avoid) holiday party embarrassmentWeve all been there, the holiday party that goes straight to Hades. Theres food, theres drink, (then some more drinks) theres the slow loosening of inhibitions and then suddenly Bam Someone says the wrong thing to someone else and its slo-mo career suicide in front of everyone theyve ever worked with.So, now what? Is it time to look for a new job while everyones so hungover they forget to blacklist you forever? In a word, no. In most situations, you can probably save both your pride and your gig.1. Youre not the only oneBelieve it or not, this happens more often than youd think so even if youve puked in your co-workers spare pair of shoes, chances are good youre neither the first nor brde to do so.2. Apologize. Then stop.Carolyn Thompson, Managing Principal of the Merito Group, a talent acquisition and consulting firm said, If you are the one that over-imbibes its up to you to apologize and inform those you may have affected that youre quite sorry and that it wont happen again. And then just drop it.If you keep talking about it the situation can take on a life on its own and affect your professional reputation, Thompson said.3. Apology acceptedIf you happen to be the one slighted or sloshed with red wine during the festivities, your best bet is to accept their apology and move on.It can be hard to take someone seriously in the office after youve witnessed that kind of behavior in a social setting, Thompson said. Politically savvy people wouldnt call someone out on it afterwards, but would graciously accept an apology from that person if they said they were a tad tipsy and to excuse anything that they said or did during that time.4. Leave earlyIf you sense that the merriment is about to go awry, make your excuses and just leave. You dont have to be sucked up into the drama either as a participant or witness.5. Turn a blind eyeNot always, b ut if you happen to catch your married boss in a clinch with someone they shouldnt be snogging, its fine to pretend you havent seen a thing. If, however, youre worried they might try to get rid of you for possessing potentially awkward information, consult with your HR officer to let them know you saw something uncomfortable at the holiday party without naming names.6. Learn from past mistakesWhether youre the one who goofed the last time around, or the one who was mightily insulted, remember that an open bar at a work event isnt the place to slam dunk cocktails. Keep to two alcoholic beverages and drink club soda or water in between them if you feel you need to carry a drink on your hand, Thompson said. Club soda with cranberry looks just like vodka soda with cranberry and the only one who knows the difference is you.7. Try to be supportiveIf possible, try to help a colleague whos screwed up in the past. Laura Handrick, an HR Analyst at Fitsmallbusiness.com, shared a story that hap pened some years ago when her best friend, a recovered alcoholic with 10 years sobriety, backslid.During a holiday party that included bar hopping, Handricks friend started drinking and went from fun and silly, to loud and obnoxious so much so that a security guard had to physically remove her from one of the venues.Handrick said on the next work day her friend did the most gracious thing possible. She apologized, individually to each one of us who had been there. She apologized for insulting a co-worker. She apologized for embarrassing us as a group. She apologized for every detail of the evening, she said.Since it was a party and not a work event, Handrick said, There were no real repercussions from a work-standpoint, so her apology wasnt meant to get out of trouble. She owned up to her behavior, asked forgiveness of anyone she embarrassed and meant it. There was nothing more really to be done on her part.Whats most interesting though, is that Handrick and her colleagues all kne w her friends struggle, felt her remorse and promised ourselves and her to be better friends and co-workers by not making alcohol so available. While it isnt your responsibility to keep a work friend from making a fool of themselves, theres nothing wrong with exercising compassion in trying to help them when possible. If anything, it shows your boss that you can be compassionate and take charge of complicated situations.8. Be a planner/Dont plan at allIf you hated the venue last year and felt that too many people had too much access to alcohol or dark alcoves, consider joining the planning committee and suggest neutral locations or lunchtime festivities. On the flipside, if you were heavily involved in the planning last year and got blamed when things went belly (or bottom) up last year, feel free to skip the planning part and show up only to the event.9. Have a strict no tagging rule and stick with itIn a world of selfies and social media, send out a request as rule with the invita tion, informing guests that posting and tagging guests will be frowned upon. Use wording that makes it sound fun and friendly, so that everyone is free to enjoy - but delay posting. Upload a page of approved shots to a private social media page, so that everyone can share without oversharing. Or have a photo booth or photographer instead.

9 Reasons to Love the Job You Have

9 Reasons to Love the Job You Have9 Reasons to Love the Job You HaveAre you less than positive about your current job? Feel badeanstalt about having to come to work every morning? Are you bored, frustrated, or just plain weary? Whatever your case may be, you really need to turn that around. Your job takes enormous amounts of your energy and time. Consequently, for happiness in life and positive mental health, you need to love the job you have. herbeies why. You Deserve Work That You Love Thats right. Deserve. Every employee deserves to love, if leid their current job, their work. If you believe this, take a look at that current job and figure out the aspects of the job or work that you love. Then decide how you will approach your job in a way that maximizes the time and energy that you expand on those tasks or goals. You will never love every aspect of your work, but you can change your mental focus from hating your job to making it work that you love. Talk to your boss about cha nging your job description to emphasize the aspects of your job that you are good at and love.Talk with your coworkers to find out where their interests lie. Perhaps you can trade off a component of your job that you dislike. Maybe a coworker would enjoy something that you hate. Having an Income Is Better Than Feeling Frustrated and Broke Make the best of bad circumstances while you job search. You want to make certain that you have a serious job offer before you professionally kiss your current employer goodbye. Focus on the fact that you are making money for doing the job. Make sure that your performance doesnt slip to the point at which your employer decides to fire you. It is much easier to find a new job when you are currently employed. Unemployed Americans find that the longer they are unemployed, the more employers look at their credentials with suspicion. Employers like to see stability and stamina on resumes or they assume that youll leave their employ quickly, too. And yes, covert discrimination does exist, so particularly if you are over 40, make sure that you have the next opportunity in hand. You will also want to be prepared to answer every prospective employers interview question about why you want to leave your current job in a positive, uplifting, forward-thinking way. The Grass Is Always Greener on the Other Side of the Fence Remember that your next job will have its own tischset of problems. A colleague, Marcia Purse, says, What an important truth. My dad told me that when still living at home, I wanted to quit my first office job because I was so miserable. He said, No, because you need to learn to stick with something, and he also told me to learn to deal with problems because every job has them. A few years later, when I was again utterly miserable at a job, I remembered these words. So, I worked to solve the problems instead of quitting. I wound up working at that company for 23 years. Sometimes its better to have a set of proble ms, a bad boss, or unchallenging work that you know and can work to turn around. You never know, for sure, what awaits you in your next job. So, if youre looking, take the time to look and assess with care. Because to Change Jobs Is Not a Current Option A reader recently complained that no other job like the one she had even existed within 50 miles of her home. Her work was that specialized. She felt her children needed her more than she needed to spend a couple of hours commuting each day. Her husband had a stable job that he loved that brought in the bulk of their income. She felt stuck because of all of her life circumstances- at least for now. She can turn this situation around by taking the actions recommended in several of the other whys listed here. The possibility that she consider other career options that would be more children friendly. is also an option. But, in the meantime, especially because of all of her personal circumstances, shes going to work to love the job she has. You Want to Minimize Work-Related Stress and Potential Illness People who hate what they do every day are experiencing stress and anxiety 24 hours a day. They tend to focus on all of the bad parts of their job and life to the point where they miss the good parts. People who experience a lot of work-related stress are also prone to illness. Stress expert Elizabeth Scott says, According to a study by the British Medical Journal, chronic stress has been linked to the development of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, as well as other conditions. This is because they found a link between chronic job stress and metabolic syndrome. A group of factors that, together, increase the risk of several diseases, including high blood pressure, insulin resistance, central obesity (excessive abdominal fat, which has been linked to increased cortisol in the bloodstream, as well as several other health problems). They found that greater levels of job stress increased peoples chances of dev eloping metabolic syndrome the higher the stress level, the greater the chance of developing metabolic syndrome. Workers who have higher levels of job stress experience a greater incidence of the common cold, and call in sick more often. You face serious physical and mental health problems if you spend every day at a job that you hate. You Want to Limit the Effects of Job Dissatisfaction on Your Loved Ones Think that only you are affected if you hate your job? Thats not possible because you come home every day and talk about how much you hate your job. This adds stress and anxiety to the days of your family members. Even if you dont talk about it, your family members love you, and they hate to see you so sad. When you hate your job, you have less energy for the other important components of your life family, exercise, fun, friends, and hobbies. In a? worst-case scenario, a company opened a second location in a distant state and transferred twenty married couples to work at the n ew location.? When anything went wrong at work, no respite existed at home. The ersatzdarsteller negative feelings interacted and festered and affected employee morale at work. And, there were no other employees to deflect the unhappiness. People Change Jobs Because They Wont Change Themselves Sometimes its not the job that needs to change. Its you. No matter where your bad attitude or outlook came from, you need to look at all aspects of your job to figure out what you can and cant change. If you focus on what you cant control, youll wallow in your misery, affect the morale of coworkers, and eventually, lose your job. We, humans, have such a bad habit of focusing on the worst factors. If you concentrate on the positive factors, instead, youll succeed. And who knows, maybe you will see things differently and come to love the job you have. You Want to Express Your Magnificent Capabilities and Skills If youre an employee, your ego and self-image are tied tightly into how succe ssfully you perform on the job. Think about how you answer the question from a new acquaintance, what do you do? If you regard your job as a misery, you are not tapping into all of your best talents and skills. And, if youre not putting forth your best, even in trying situations, you are not celebrating who you are, what you bring to the workplace, Thats sad. Look at the job you have and decide where you can excel. Take joy in your accomplishments and how you express your talents and inner joy at work. What a waste if you focus on what you cant do and what you hate. Spend you thought time on what you can influence and what you can create. You Want to Create the Opportunity to Continue to Grow Your Skills and Experiences fruchtwein people want to succeed at work. But, when your focus is on how intensely you dislike your job, you are challenged to continue developing your skills. Even if you dislike what you are doing, you need to focus on the aspects of your skills and experience s that you want to keep growing - even in less than ideal circumstances. Dont waste your opportunity to grow because you dont like your job. Get all that you can get from it by seizing the opportunity to continue to develop your skills.