His name is Terry and I actually like him. He started yesterday. Just to let everyone know, he does have a twin brother Adolph also looking for work, sooo if you have any job openings in your area, please drop us an email

Related articles by Zemanta

• Word of the day – Pightle (geoffjones.com)
• The “Seinfeld” reunion. (althouse.blogspot.com)
• Laptop Throwing Butt Video a Fake? Say it isn’t so! (geardiary.com)

It’s not a pleasant prospect, but it could very well be you. Now that unemployment is over 10% and in reality it is probably easily at 20% , if you add the people the government no longer counts. That’s one out of every five people.
Here’s a helpful list,  to be prepared, just in case. This “everything you always wanted to know” list of things to consider covers the basics of job loss – from anticipating possible termination to preparing for your next career. Read on, and don’t be caught unaware.

Let’s start with the basics: take a look around. There are signs that would indicate a negative future for your company (or, at least, your job). If others in your department are losing their jobs, if your company recently instituted a hiring freeze, if newly budgeted positions are not being filled or if retirees are not being replaced, it’s time to start looking at your own standing and performance in the company. Were you the last person hired, or are you having problems keeping up with the work? If the answer’s yes, you may be summoned soon.

Beyond this, be aware if training budgets are cut or there’s a slowdown in new projects on offer. Though your particular department may be immune to the general malaise in the company, it’s best to check with superiors to see if your group is meeting targets.
How Best to Prepare
Consider the following proactive steps once you expect to be laid off. First, update your resume then build your network. Of course, you should be doing both on an ongoing basis – especially the latter. Both inside and outside your company, that rapport may ultimately secure you a few warm leads after a layoff.

Next, fix an appointment with the human resources department to determine all your invested assets with the company, including pension, health care rights, etc. All of this will be valuable when it comes time to negotiate a severance package. Be sure to familiarize yourself intimately with your company’s severance policy.

Also, remember to remove all your personal files off the office computer.

Money Matters

There are a number of important financial steps that will ensure an orderly transition between jobs.

First up is to prepare a net worth statement that identifies all your debts and assets, so you know exactly where you stand financially. Also, it’s worthwhile to create a spending log that determines what you spend for necessities and what’s discretionary. In the event of a job loss, you will have to know where to cut. A budget that you adhere to (and don’t keep just for vanity) is a must.

Next, establish an emergency fund of between three and six months’ of living expenses to carry yourself and your family through the job search process. This should be done by everyone and not just those expecting to be on the chopping block. Be a good scout: be prepared.

The ability to access money after a layoff is of the utmost importance. That being said, if you need to use credit to stay afloat after a layoff, use a line of credit before using a loan or credit cards. Lines of credit commonly offer much lower interest rates than the other two options and offer more flexible payments, as well. Loans and credit cards should only be used as a last resort.

Finally, understand that cashing in your IRA, 401(k) or selling your home in order to raise funds for living expenses during this period may trigger unwanted tax implications. Get advice now and avoiding acting out of desperation.

Also, contact your creditors quickly and explain your new employment status. Request a revised, temporary payment schedule to help keep up with your payments. You’ll be surprised at how forthcoming many will be.

Legal Matters
You have certain rights as a terminated employee, and you owe it to yourself to know them. The most important of which is severance compensation. Figure out exactly what your company’s guidelines obligate them to pay and demand the maximum, and stand firm. Your company may not want to offer you as much as you’re worth, but it’s up to you to fight for it.

Many companies offer laid off employees outplacement services. Use them. Overcome the bitterness; you never know from where your next job will come.

Consider, too, the benefits (and cost) of using a lawyer in the process. Depending upon your rank and years of service, the company’s human resources department may even offer you one. If your case is tricky, a lawyer may mean the difference between an all-or-nothing payout package.

Family Matters
This is crucial: keep your family involved in the process. Your spouse, kids and parents should all be aware of the new reality you’re facing. A team approach will yield great emotional support. Hiding the truth from your family will only make things more stressful in the long run.

Post-Layoff: Immediate Steps
Once the mud has hit, it’s time to get busy. Obtain personal references immediately. Your bosses will likely be vulnerable and sympathetic at this point. It’s best to write your own letter and have it ready to sign. Waste no time in starting your job hunt. Try to be out the next day. Momentum is key, and a quick start will help keep emotions in check and reduce the possibility of depression.

Finally, use your severance wisely. Prioritize: pay your rent/mortgage, car, electricity and food bills. And wherever possible, avoid using credit. If you qualify, register yourself for unemployment insurance.

Health Insurance
While you’re still employed, be sure to use your current health coverage for everything you need, from new eyeglasses to matters more serious. While current legislation, known as COBRA, allows you to keep your existing coverage after you’re fired, it can be prohibitively expensive. The best practice is to price your old policy against one in the private insurance market. There are new options coming available all the time, and premium prices fluctuate quite often. And while it may be tough to find coverage if you have a pre-existing condition, an agent can always help. There’s likely a policy out there that can be tailor-made to your needs.

Consider, too, the option of coverage on a spouse’s plan – even temporarily if it’s available. Going without coverage can be a risky proposition. Anyone not covered for 63 days after a job loss loses certain legal protections. Your employer’s human resources department can help you determine the law in your state, and what should be done to maximize your family’s benefits. As well, check potential coverage through Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program in your state.

Education and Retraining
If resources permit, you may want to develop skills the market is currently demanding. Start by assessing your needs, then determine how best to acquire those skills; online training, attending a community college or taking industry courses can all be beneficial. However, be sure to consider your family and social responsibilities, as well as the cost of such a venture vs. the potential reward.

If you go this route, consider alternate funding sources, such as industry loans, grants and scholarships.

The Bottom Line
Preparing for the worst is the best practice. It will not only increase the likelihood of a successful parting from your old job and quickly landing a new one, it will also help you navigate the process confidently. Your attitude is crucial. Without stress or depression, you and your family stand a far greater chance of smoothly weathering the transition.

Related articles by Zemanta

• How small businesses can manage people for competitive advantage (crowdspring.com)
• Do out-of-the-box job seeking tactics work? (cnn.com)
• As Layoffs Persist, Good Jobs Go Unfilled (huffingtonpost.com)
• The Best Employers for Older Workers (usnews.com)
• Losing Your Job (man-over-board.com)

Modeling is not nearly as glamorous or lucrative for men as for women. The boys make less money, so they often don’t have the luxury of, say, a black car to ferry them between shows and fittings. Also, male models can be filthy, filthy creatures. Russian-born Matvey Lykov ranks in the top 25 male models working today (he recently landed the spring Jil Sander campaign). He tells the L.A. Times he prefers not to live in agency male-model housing:

“Before my first s how in Milan, we were staying in this apartment that belonged to a male model,” Lykov recalls. “I was staying with these Canadians; they were like animals. They destroyed all t he furniture, they were throwing chairs and beer bottles out of the window from the fourth floor onto cars — one guy [relieved himself] in the oven.” He said he took his suitcase and checked into a hotel that night … “Male models are messy — it’s not sexy at all.”

The financial compensation hardly makes up for the pain and suffering. Lykov walked 34 shows in Milan, Paris, and New York. The eleven shows he walked in New York this season paid him in clothing rather than cash — something that’s called a “trade” and not allowed in Europe. So if he makes around $1,000 a show, he netted about $16,400 this show season, after a 20 percent agency fee and couple grand for travel expenses. In a year, doubling that figure and adding in a few one-off shows and an exclusive job, he makes around $40,000. Before taxes. Including human excrement in the kitchen. (It is, however, considerably better than a starting salary at Condé Nast.) Lykov is hoping for some fall campaign bookings, where the real money is. In the meantime you might find him in the Williamsburg apartment he shares with four roommates, none of them models.

Male Models from subway to runway LAT.

Every day I receive a least two to three new unsolicited resumes for employment. While this is not new in and of itself, the fact that the age group applying is proportionately getting older and with experienced employment histories. The fact that I am getting middle aged college grads, looking for an entry level position, whether full or part time is disarming.

The reason I am entering this into what is mainly a mens fashion blog comes from a fax I received two days ago. The fax was a Virginia newspaper article about the mens retail chain S & K entering into Chapter 11 and downsizing over 100 of their brick and mortar locations from approximately 130 to 30 nationwide.

Being with an upscale menswear company myself that has been in business for over 133 years made me start to agonize over the fact that this could also happen to us. Every month in our own mall I see new empty store fronts in all areas from childrens toys to womens shoes. Finding good, qualified employees 12 months ago used to be one of the hardest parts of my job. I personally have over 30 plus years in management and I can honestly say I have never had a better group of employees in all those years, The choices for great qualified applicants are numerous.

OK I digress from the main thought of what this post is about and want to keep it focused on the subject matter of this blog and that is trends in mens fashion, et al Earlier posts I ran a series of articles on what to wear for a job interview in regards to clothing. I finished reading a few articles about what else a man can do in helping the odds of finding and getting a job. There was also an eye opening BBC documentary on this very subject, that pertained to both sexes and age discrimination.

We are pretty much born with our physical attributes, however the older we get, the more prevalent the “packaging” of our being is judged. The growing trend of trying to look younger is no longer about ones vanity, it is part of what goes in the overall decision on whether you land a position or passed over for a younger applicant. No longer is experience viewed as a plus in many corporate hiring practices. Although against the law, this is a fact that I am sure could be verified by many of you who are now reading this.

While a great suit and shined shoes will always be most important, the new personal addition to ones portfolio or should I say strategy is, drum roll….,,,, a Face Lift

Those looking for employment at midlife can be out of work as much as a month more than the average young adult. When midlife unemployed do find jobs, they’re usually at lower wages. In one study by Fidelity, one-third of workers 50 to 59 cashed in their 401(k)s — their retirement money — when they left work, a bad sign.

Middle ageism can be the final straw that weakens one’s defenses against the rising pressures to not look your age. But anyone hoping to maximize her income by investing in expensive and hazardous products and procedures should think again.

Some people earn more as they age into their middle years because of the remnants of our seniority system. Now business and government get rid of people precisely because they earn more. Dyeing your hair or getting a face lift might help you find a job at midlife, but if your employer has decided to cut back on expensive employees no “rejuvenating” technique will prevail.

Such unacknowledged facts cause the bias against “boomers” as techno-idiots and “deadwood” who persist in wanting to hold onto their jobs! Without such middle-ageism, there would be nothing wrong with no longer being young. It brings many good things: a different kind of good looks, experience, job expertise, resilience. But the cult of youth has grown more vicious in response to the downward pressure on employees’ wages.

People who are desperate about their jobs and income security are often looking for a marginal advantage. Their decision to get a face lift won’t be spurred by vanity. They take on debt to pay for surgery just as they might go into hock for job retraining.

In this broader economic context, we can understand how “anti-aging” hooks its followers, despite panic about the technical failures and fear that the product might work and still prove ineffective in the job market.

Whether such a dramatic step should be taken, the fact that the dialogue is being discussed at all, is troubling.

Related articles by Zemanta

• As Layoffs Persist, Good Jobs Go Unfilled (huffingtonpost.com)
• 6 Tips for Acing a Job Interview After Age 50 (usnews.com)
• Job, Work, Occupation (alpup.blogspot.com)
• Michael Sigman: Job-Seeking in Tough Times (huffingtonpost.com)
• Mark Miller: Proving Workplace Age Bias Isn’t Easy, But the Case Is Strong (huffingtonpost.com)
• The Best Employers for Older Workers (usnews.com)
• Guerrilla Job Search Tactics (socialmediatoday.com)