Now, let’s dig deeper into the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s July jobs report to understand what’s happening in the job market–what’s making the business press so negative and why you should be hopeful.  First, the negative.  The business press and analysts are negative because they predicted higher job gains, fewer jobless claims and faster GDP growth.  They were wrong.  Being wrong makes people grumpy and negative press drives more views/readers than happy press.  The end.

On to the good stuff, those 71,000 jobs.  Where did they come from?  Well, employers in several industries added jobs last month.  Here are the biggest gainers.

THE BIGGEST JOB GAINERS

1. Manufacturing +36,000
2. Healthcare +27,000
3. Transportation & Warehousing +12, 200
4. Mining & Logging +8,000
5. Retailers +6,700
6. Leisure & Hospitality +6,000

Of course, Careersthatdontsuck.com wants to give you the complete picture, so we also have to tell you that the biggest loser industries.

THE BIGGEST JOB LOSERS

1. Government -202,000 (143,000 were Census jobs that ended)
2. Financial Activities -17,000
3. Professional & Business Services -13,000
4. Construction -11,000

Private Employers Added 71,000 Jobs Last Month. Who’s Doing the Hiring? is a post from: Careersthatdontsuck.com

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Ask CEO Tony Hsieh and he’ll tell you that the secret sauce is the company’s quirky culture and his own obsession with his employees’ happiness.  It’s hard to argue with Hsieh since the proof is in the billion-dollar pudding.  He’s created a unique culture brimming with eccentricities like red velvet thrones, free life coaches, and sleepovers at the CEO’s house, and rich with perks like compressed workweeks, free health benefits and free lunches.  And, despite the fact that Zappos’ employees are lowly paid (the CEO earns $36K/year), they are scarily happy and productive.

Wouldn’t you love to know how you can sell mundane products and pay your employees meager wages but still keep them happy enough to help you build a billion-dollar enterprise?  Now’s your chance!  Zappos’ CEO and management team want to share the inner workings of their successful business with you.  They want to share their culture, their operations and their philosophy with you so that you can apply it to your own business.  To accomplish this, Hsieh created Zappos Insights (ZI).

ZI is a unit of Zappos that provides access to customers and business owners, basically anyone who wants to know more about how Zappos does it.  Via ZI, Zappos provides 4 “experiences”–(1) Tours (a free basic tour and a $47 upgraded tour); (2) a $397 Silver package that features a tour + 1.5 hours with team members from 3 departments of your choice, (3) a $1497/person Gold package that features a full day’s access to Zappos staff and 1 month of free access to Insights and staff; and (4) a $4000 2-day Bootcamp that features dinner with Hsieh and senior Zappos managers, step-by-step instructions on creating your own Zappos-esque culture and answers to your direct, specific questions.

Learn more about Zappos’ Experiences.

Zappos.com is also hiring.  Check out their current job openings.

Learn From The Best: Zappos Wants to Show You How To Build a Billion-Dollar Biz is a post from: Careersthatdontsuck.com

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Believe it or not, more people quit their jobs in the past three months than were laid off.  According to the Department of Labor, nearly 2 million people quit their jobs in April.  Ironically, the increased quits is a sign the job market is improving.  People are feeling confident enough to leave jobs even without lining up their next gig and researchers expect the number of quits to rise as the job market continues to improve, a trend observed after every economic depression and recession.

So, what about you?  Will you stick with your current job or are you already looking?

Jobs Are Back. Time to Quit Yours? is a post from: Careersthatdontsuck.com

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We’ve all been there at one time or another, and we’ve all probably wished a benevolent, employed friend would refer us for a job.  But, should you refer a friend for a job?

Maybe.

Reasons to Say “Yes”

Did you know that most employers cite referrals from existing employees as the most trusted and most effective source of new hires.  In fact, according to Career Xroads Sources of Hire 2010 report, 27% of all external hires were sourced via employee referrals while only 13% were sourced via online job boards.  The reasoning behind this is that employers have found that candidates who are referred by existing employees are more likely to be interviewed, more likely to be hired and more likely to stay with the company.

Employers are so convinced that employee referrals are the way to go that they are offering hefty rewards to employees who refer superstars that are ultimately hired.  Prudential pays employees between $500 and $2,500 per referral.  Vistaprint pays $1,500 per referral, plus a home theater package for the employee who refers the most new hires.  Nortel pays $2,000 per referral, plus employees are entered into a lottery to win $100,000.

Given this, it should come as no surprise to you that such a referral from you–a benevolent, employed friend–would be hotly pursued and prized.  It might add a few bucks to your bank accounts too.

Then, there are the non-monetary rewards:  The “Best Friend Ever!” award, seeing your friend(s) at work, helping your friend(s) save their home(s), good Karma.

Reasons to Say “No”

So, there are plenty of reasons to say “Yes”, but probably just as many to say “No”.  Let’s explore them.

1. Your friend deserved to be fired from their last job.
2. Your friend is not really a friend (just cozying up to you for a referral).
3. Your workplace is a “friend-free” zone and you want to keep it that way.
4. Your friends are not as talented as they think they are.
5. Your friend has sticky fingers.
6. You’re barely hanging onto your job.
7. You’re afraid you’ll be upstaged by your friend(s).
8. You’re not benevolent.

So, should you refer a friend for a job?

Question: Should You Refer A Friend For A Job? is a post from: Careersthatdontsuck.com

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1. The Washington Post’s interactive questionnaire allows you to enter a bit of info about yourself and your income and then tells you what you can expect in terms of healthcare costs, tax costs/credits.
2. The Christian Science Monitor has created  Health Care Reform Bill 101 to walk you through the major provisions.
3. The LA Times offers a great breakdown of the provisions and their effective dates.
4. The White House offers a title-by-title summary of the complete healthcare bill
5. HuffPo was kind enough to post the full text of the bill on docstoc.

5 Resources to Help You Figure Out How the Health Care Reform Bill Affects You is a post from: Careersthatdontsuck.com

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