Comments for CareerDiva

Comment on Jobless are jobless longer by telleve

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 01:00:20 +0000

Ruth has some great suggestions. But make sure, before you call anyone, that you realize people are trying to sell you their services, services you may not necessarily need.
I don’t endorse any of the people who give advice on this site because I don’t know who they are or what their businesses are about. You have to do your own due diligence before you decide to hire someone. Call references. Check out the www.bbb.org.

Comment on Jobless are jobless longer by Ruth Shapiro Associates

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:27:58 +0000

Who would you love to work for? Pick 3 to 5 companies you admire who have no job openings. Then, research them intensively to learn some of their problems. Send them a letter that pinpoints successful results from your experience that relate to their needs. Start the letter saying you know they have no openings but you believe it would be mutually beneficial to get acquainted with the value you can offer when the economy improves. Offer to meet to discuss your ideas. For more suggestions, phone me at 212-633-0270.

Comment on You’re still fat and the boss isn’t happy by telleve

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:50:19 +0000

It’s a great thing to encourage workers to be healthier. My concern is that employers not take things like this too far in the name of profit.
That’s what I’m doing here Matt. Calling attention to these issues and hoping it sparks a dialogue.

Comment on You’re still fat and the boss isn’t happy by matt

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:55:06 +0000

no. eva, it’s not so they can get wealthy. it’s so u don’t die. obesity and associated heart disease/failure is the, be very very very clear about this, the number one killer in any category, under any circumstances. insurance companies DO NOT want to pay out for your lifestyle choices. neither do financially aware consumers.

health insurance is a misnomer. it’s sickness insurance. eating well, even moderate exercise (take a walk in the mall), drinking plenty of water is, in this country, free. obesity is a sickness and is bet against in the actuarial algorithms.

frankly if it were for corporate incentives to get people healthy, some people are shaving 10-15 years off their lives. i bet you are going to posit that greedy corporations force feed their employees big sized fries and whoppers and chicken wings and paddock us into a soft cushy chair as we suck down media like this form the idiot box?

Comment on You’re still fat and the boss isn’t happy by Gin Tonyx

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 10:52:42 +0000

I get the point “health insurance”. Although I still have a problem with it. The fair thing would be to have all health risks taken into account, not only obesity. You would have to consider Skateboarding, Bungee Jumping, Mountain Biking, Motorcycling, any kind of Motorsports, all Ballgames, Hunting, all addictive Computer Games, Gambling, Poker, YouTube… just everything that gets your heartrate “too far” up or down. There are enough people having a heart attack while playing chess.

So my point is: it’s not fair to take only a few health risks. You have to consider everything. And then it becomes irrelevant what you do in your time off.

On a personal note on the lighter side: I don’t drink before 5 o’clock. “Somewhere must be 5 o’clock!” (Saying from the the colonial age where the British Empire spanned almost around the world).
Seriously: my Screen Name is only a Reference to Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I don’t drink more than I can take.

Comment on Say “no” to American Idol, “yes” to equal pay for women by Kim@Galavanting

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:08:27 +0000

I knew she left but had no idea why!! That is totally unacceptable. Definitely tuning out.

Comment on You’re still fat and the boss isn’t happy by HikingStick

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:56:16 +0000

Health care costs are definitely an issue. The health (including weight) of participants in a group health plan has a direct impact on the costs associated with the plan (due to increased payouts, or the statistical likelihood of increased payouts). Whereas employees with specific medical diagnoses would have some protections under the ADA, being generally overweight or unhealthy does not carry such protections.

Comment on You’re still fat and the boss isn’t happy by telleve

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:29:51 +0000

You make a good point Gin Tonyx. It should all be about performance. But alas, it’s not.
Many businesses are worried about their escalating health care insurance costs and that’s what’s driving much of this.
As for drugs, many employers do screen for that before they hire you. As for gin tonics at lunch, so far, few employers are trying to derail that.

Comment on You’re still fat and the boss isn’t happy by Gin Tonyx

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:15:59 +0000

I don’t believe this BS!
If I were an employer I would not care whether my employees were fat or not. What I care about is output. Performance. Effectiveness. Who cares if one of your colleagues can’t climb the stairs to the office? What do we have the elevator for?

Of course there are exceptions: I would not crowd my footlocker Store with fat boys ‘n gurls. Neither a hotel-spa. But what about your favorite diner? If the cook is too thin his food probably sucks so bad that he doesn’t even eat it himself. Or imagine your Bear’s&Friends dealer would frown at you like “how can you eat this junk” while handing you your $20 purchase!

As I showed in the examples, there are jobs where your personal size does matter. But: the vast majority of the jobs are absolutely independent of the person’s weight. Even independent of the smoking habits — as long as the office performance is top. Contrary to this I think that drugs or alcohol abuse will always be a penalty on performance and thus should be treated mercilessly — after a warning.

Sweets and burgers should NOT be put in the same category as drugs and alcohol!

Comment on You’re still fat and the boss isn’t happy by HikingStick

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:04:06 +0000

HoHos are common. Once upon a time, there were Zingers. I never liked them, but the commercials were always on Sunday evenings around the time of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and Wonderful World of Disney.

I know that my father’s favorite cany bar, Chunky, is unknown where I now live. When we vacationed in Canada, we discovered Coffee Crisp candy bars, and those became an instant favorite. We only got them once a year, though.