Young Tech Workers, Supermodels and Moore's Law
Forget supermodels. It may now be young tech workers in Silicon Valley who have the shortest careers around. It’s enough to make you pity all those 25-year-old coders.
Unlike the prior generation or two here in Silicon Valley, who got a job and worked at it for five or more years, today's tech workers seem to have a super short-shelf life. After all, there's a new crop graduating from college (or dropping out of college) every year, eager to work 24/7 and ready to push the old-timers — you know, the 28 and 29-year-olds — right out of the job market.
Of course, this is great for companies looking for a young, enthusiastic workforce, willing to accept lower salaries in exchange for a potential stock bonanza. (Assuming they remain employed long enough to vest their shares.)
It's not just tech startups who prefer the young. Even the more established tech companies prefer younger workers, and it’s no longer just aging engineers who face an uphill battle finding a job. Nowadays, the preference for younger workers in tech cuts across job descriptions: sales, marketing, administration, accounting, the legal department, you name it.
How to Negotiate Like a Woman — and Win
Negotiation is different for women. I think of myself as a straight-shooter, and when it comes to negotiation, I'd like to think I can just do what the guys do and have the same odds of getting what I want.
Nope. Not-for-profit group Catalyst, as we've noted before, has found that women do ask for raises and promotions just as often as guys do, but they're less successful at getting them. Now, research from Michael Morris at the Columbia Business School and Emily Amanatullah, at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, shows that both men and women find women who are aggressive negotiators to be "unlikeable." Men don't have this problem, needless to say. And it doesn't bode well for your odds of success.
The researchers did uncover one situation in which female negotiators are not penalized for being aggressive. It's when women are negotiating on behalf of someone else. If you're trying to get a raise for your deputy, you have the same odds of success as a guy would. So even at the negotiating table, most people still expect women to be caring, nurturing, and taking care of others. Luckily, the researchers also have some ideas about how you can use this very persistent stereotype to your advantage.
24 Things to do on a Boring Conference Call: Home Office Edition
When we first launched One Thing New, we ran a story called 24 Things to Do on a Boring Conference Call. We quickly realized two things. One, lots of people are bored on conference calls. More than we suspected. Two, the amount you can accomplish during a dull call depends on how much privacy you have. We like to think we came up with some good ideas for the office-bound, but if you're working from home and have a solid command of the mute button, the sky's the limit. A few suggestions to inspire you:
1. Get outside. As far as I'm concerned, everything else pales in comparison to this. Yes, you can fold laundry, empty the litter box or even watch Downton Abbey as your boss rattles on, but in the long run, getting outside always does more for my sanity. Watch the joggers and bicyclists, root for the squirrels in their constant battle against the bluejays, or just stare at the sky as the clouds go by.
2. Pull weeds. This is "get outside" for the type A's among us (like me). So satisfying!
3. Fold laundry. This has the advantage of being practically silent.
4. Sweep.
5. Engage your core. My friend Bonnie does balancing exercises during her conference calls. Brilliant. If you're feeling more ambitious, you can do some real exercise.
Read more: 24 Things to do on a Boring Conference Call: Home Office Edition
Losing Your Health Insurance: 8 Things You Need to Know Before You Go On Cobra
If you're thinking of leaving your job, Cobra may seem like the one part of our screwy health insurance system that actually works. Named for the health insurance provisions in the 1986 Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, Cobra ensures that if you leave your job, you won't also lose your employer-sponsored health insurance. In most cases, you'll get 18 months coverage on your employer's plan before you've got to come up with other arrangements.
If only it were that simple. It's distressingly easy to be thrown off of Cobra for no reason at all, and you can count on getting plenty of bad information while you're trying to get reinstated. Here's what you need to know to make sure your health insurance coverage continues, even if your job doesn't.
Read more: Losing Your Health Insurance: 8 Things You Need to Know Before You Go On Cobra
Five Good Reasons to Hire the Unemployed
It's official: you need a job to get a job.
The National Employment Law Project, which earlier this year helped bring attention to help wanted ads saying the jobless need not apply, said the situation is getting worse.
"We hear regularly from unemployed workers — mostly older Americans — who despite years in the labor force and significant experience are told they will not be considered for a job once employers learn they are not currently working,” NELP Director Christine Owens told the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Dec. 6.
Her testimony backs up news stories such as these, reporting that many companies are posting want ads with a devastating caveat: Those without jobs need not apply for them. These companies seem to be using employment status as a proxy for competitiveness — and companies want competitive.
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