Marty Nemko's Blog, page 419

Susan's Saga: A continuing series on work today and other issues. Episode 2: Career Counseling

The Sapien Family Saga Part II: Susan's Saga  Episode 2: Career Counseling
In the previous episode, Susan started to contemplate life without David--including a fear she'd end up a bag lady. She decided to look into finding a career counselor. 

First, Susan called a career coach she ended up calling The Moneygrubber: He'd only sell a $4,900 bronze package, $6,900 silver package, or $9,900 gold package. Susan thought, "Way too much. Besides anyone who makes you commit that much money up front probably is afraid that after a session or two, you'll quit."

Susan called the next counselor, "The Tester:" That counselor would devote three sessions to an alphabet soup of career assessments: DISC, SII, and, of course, the MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.) One of the few specifics Susan still remembered from her college courses was when her psychology professor said, "Those career 'tests,' especially the Myers-Briggs aren't much better than a horoscope."

Susan called the third counselor "The Listener:"  "Uh huh," "Tell me more." "I hear you saying" (then parrots back.") Susan thought, "She'll never teach me anything. She's like those consultants who steal your watch to tell you what time it is."

Susan decided to do at least one session with the fourth coach, Michelle, whom she called The Practical Dreamer. Susan liked that Michelle said, "I keep my head in the clouds, feet on the ground," whatever that means.  Susan also liked that Michelle would, a week before the first session, email Susan a probing new-client questionnaire to complete at home. That would serve as the springboard for the session. That way, Susan wouldn't have to pay the counselor for all that questioning-and-answering. Plus, Susan would have the time to reflect on the questions rather than having to come up with a great answer on the fly.

In fact, Susan felt she got more from answering the questionnaire than from the session with Michelle. Susan's questionnaire answers made clear that her career non-negotiables were: a creative component and working in an organization rather than solo so she'd have lots of people contact and a support infrastructure. Her best abilities were staying calm, leading kids, and a refined aesthetic. Her core value was education. Susan wondered whether all those stood out simply because her most recent activity was directing Rent at the high school.

Susan also worried, "Isn't all that too vague?" Michelle responded, "Getting more specific would be false precision. You could be content in many fields and settings. For example, you never would think of being in soybean processing but if a nice person offered you a good job helping him to set up his soybean processing facility, I'd bet you'd give it a try. Right?" Susan agreed. 

At the end of the session, Michelle gave Susan a homework assignment that, while just common sense, felt right: "Explore. Put yourself in places you might learn more about yourself, be exposed to new career ideas and to people who could give you a good job lead." 

Susan left after that two-hour session feeling she had gotten her $400 worth but decided not to make another appointment. She'd simply follow Michelle's advice to explore. 

The next episode is posted HERE.

The Sapian Family Saga. an unvarnished look at work today: Part II: Susan's Saga. Episode 1: Career Fear

Part I of The Sapian Family Saga ended with David dying and his wife Susan guiltily feeling glad that she'd now be free to be herself....if only she knew what that was. 


The Sapian Family Saga Part II: Susan's Saga Episode I: Career Fear
Susan sat by the fire. It seemed like only yesterday that David was beside her for their fireside chats, although "chat" is a misnomer--David never turned off his intense brain, always wanting to talk-through problems: family ones, work ones, societal ones. Indeed, in their last "chat," he played out a scenario that could result from all those jobs getting part-timed/temped, automated, and offshored.

Part of her was relieved she wouldn't have to endure any more "chats." Frankly, her favorite part was when he finally finished and they could stare into the fire. But being reminded that those chats would be no more, that everything with David would be no more, saddened her, scared her:

 "How will Adam be affected? He was just starting to do okay in school. And the $250,000 David left me won't be enough to live on forever, even here in Sage River. Ten hours a week of piano lessons won't give me enough income. I'll need to look for a job. Maybe not immediately but soon. And, oh my God, that means interviewing, and probably by whole panels of interviewers." Susan had an outsized fear of any sort of public speaking ever since she forgot her lines in the Christmas pageant when she was ten.

"But I don't even know what sort of job to go for. I have no skills. I have a 15-year-old degree in sociology, and except for my piano teaching I haven't done any real work except a little temping and my typing sucks and I hate computers. David loved computers. Except for Facebook, shopping on the Net, and email, I avoid the computer. I hate the computer. Who would hire me?

"And what's my passion? People who have a passion knew it from when they were a kid: They wanted to be a fashion designer, a video game designer, an entrepreneur, whatever. I'm interested in a lot of stuff but no one thing stands out. 

"I'm afraid I'll end up as a bag lady! Maybe I need to see a career counselor."

The next episode is HERE.

Susan's Saga: A continuing series about work today and other things. Episode 1: Career Fear

Part I of The Sapien Family Saga ended with David dying and his wife Susan guiltily feeling glad that she'd now be free to be herself....if only she knew what that was. 


The Sapien Family Saga Part II: Susan's Saga Episode I: Career Fear
Susan sat by the fire. It seemed like only yesterday that David was beside her for their fireside chats, although "chat" is a misnomer--David never turned off his intense brain, always wanting to talk-through problems: family ones, work ones, societal ones. Indeed, in their last "chat," he played out a scenario that could result from all those jobs getting part-timed/temped, automated, and offshored.

Part of her was relieved she wouldn't have to endure any more "chats." Frankly, her favorite part was when he finally finished and they could stare into the fire. But being reminded that those chats would be no more, that everything with David would be no more, saddened her, scared her:

 "How will Adam be affected? He was just starting to do okay in school. And the $250,000 David left me won't be enough to live on forever, even here in Sage River. Ten hours a week of piano lessons won't give me enough income. I'll need to look for a job. Maybe not immediately but soon. And, oh my God, that means interviewing, and probably by whole panels of interviewers." Susan had an outsized fear of any sort of public speaking ever since she forgot her lines in the Christmas pageant when she was ten.

"But I don't even know what sort of job to go for. I have no skills. I have a 15-year-old degree in sociology, and except for my piano teaching I haven't done any real work except a little temping and my typing sucks and I hate computers. David loved computers. Except for Facebook, shopping on the Net, and email, I avoid the computer. I hate the computer. Who would hire me?

"And what's my passion? People who have a passion knew it from when they were a kid: They wanted to be a fashion designer, a video game designer, an entrepreneur, whatever. I'm interested in a lot of stuff but no one thing stands out. 

"I'm afraid I'll end up as a bag lady! Maybe I need to see a career counselor."

The next episode is HERE.

Anyone like my writings and have the ability to get them more widely read?

I'm sad that I have relatively few readers of my blog posts, tweets, and website articles. Perhaps it's because my work is unworthy but perhaps it's at least in part because I need someone to market my stuff. I'd always rather create content than market it. Anyone out there with the expertise to and desire to market my writings?

The Hijacking of Valentine's Day

I rarely post others' work but I find this worthy.

More women are replacing Valentine's Day with a V-Day of protest, inspired by the male-bashing, strongly praised, strongly criticized Vagina Monologues.

In this essay in today's Federalist, Stephen Rhoades, a professor at the University of Virginia questions the justice and wisdom of that.

David's Saga: A continuing series on work today and related issues. The final episode: Episode 17: Third Time's the...

In the previous episode, David proposed that the end of jobs might actually be a net plus for society.

His next day, however, would not be a net plus. 

It was an ordinary afternoon. Susan was giving a piano lesson on Skype. Adam was quietly doing his homework. (Their parenting-by-guilt was working remarkably well.) David was staring into his Big Data, trying to make more efficient the single-payer health care system his white paper helped get enacted. He was so proud that he helped pass the law that allowed 50 million more people, including 11 million formerly illegal immigrants, to get health care.

And then David felt that pressure in his chest again. But this time, taking deep breaths didn't help. As before his previous heart attacks, it kept getting worse. "Susan, call 911."

But this was Sage River not San Francisco, and five minutes, ten minutes, 15 minutes, and still no ambulance. Susan called again but 911 said, "I'm sorry. The system is overwhelmed. We just don't have enough ambulances. We can't keep up with the demand. It shouldn't be too long."

But when you're having a heart attack, you don't have long. David was getting dizzy and the pressure in his chest intolerable. His skin, normally pale, was now red and shading to purple, with Susan and especially Adam, looking on in horror.

Finally after a half-hour, the ambulance arrived and a paramedic and EMT moved David to a stretcher and onto the ambulance, with Susan and Adam by his side. Unless it's a real emergency, noise abatement rules require ambulances to use their siren as little as possible, but this was a real emergency. The driver turned on the siren and kept it on.

While starting an IV drip to reduce David's pain, the paramedic told the EMT to start CPR.  "No!: Slower! Harder!," the paramedic coached the EMT. The EMT pleaded, "This is only my 2nd time. I'm new!"  

David got more purple. And then blue. Susan screamed, "He stopped breathing!"  The paramedic pushed the EMT aside and continued the CPR, far harder. But it was too late.

A month later, Susan received a copy of David's will. He had always lived modestly and invested rather than spent. Every time he had an extra thousand dollars, he'd invest it in  Vanguard Growth Index Fund, a widely touted smart place to put money. As a result, although he never had a huge salary, in the 20 years since he started saving, his nest egg had already grown to $500,000. He chose to leave half to Susan and Adam and the other half to the American Heart Association, specifically to fund research on sudden heart attack in men, which kills many more men, earlier, than other diseases, yet receives proportionately much less funding. 

Susan decided that the next plays she directs will be fundraisers for that cause. Although guilty for feeling this way, she felt relief that only now did she feel free to live the life she really wanted to live--if only she knew what that was.

And that ends David's Saga, Part I of The Sapien Family Saga trilogy. 

Next: Episode 1 of Part II: Susan's Saga. I'll likely post that in a day or three.

Part III will be Adam's Saga.

I'll Trade You One Trendy Restaurant for One Good Donut Shop

I just wrote a Yelp review of the Dream Fluff Donut Shop in Berkeley and thought you might enjoy seeing it. It ended up being an indictment of trendy restaurants.

In a world of overpriced food that's novel but tastes worse than old-standbys, Dream Fluff Donuts stands tall. What in the world could taste better than a classic cinnamon roll, apple fritter, or lemon jelly donut. Or if those are too sweet, a croissant whether sweet with jam and/or butter, or savory--hot ham and cheese?

While one could argue whether Dream Fluff's donuts are the best in the Bay Area, the cosmos, whatever, no honest person could assert that all of the above aren't damn good at Dream Fluff.

Continuing the integrity theme, rather than try to seduce customers with fancy surrounds, Dream Fluff's decor remains staunchly ugly, letting the food speak.

And in the final bow (yes--that's a pun, the owner is Cambodian) to integrity, the prices are what they should be for donuts, coffee, breakfasts, everything. Why? Because, I'm guessing The Restaurant Consultants have not gotten their greedy, customer-unfriendly mitts on Dream Fluff, filling the owners not with raspberry goo but with big dollar signs.

May Dream Fluff stand proud forever.

And now, let me get off my soapbox and get a cinnamon roll and coffee.

P.S. And now, with that coffee and cinnamon roll in hand, I raise said roll on high in your honor, oh owner of Dream Fluff!

The Gender Pay Gap Myth: A Collection of Articles

 Dr. Walter Block, the Harold E Wirth Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair and Professor of Economics at Loyola University asked me to assemble a list of articles regarding President Obama's assertion, repeated most recently in his State of the Union Address that, for the same work, women earn 77 cents on the dollar compared with men. Here are the links I sent him:

First, a two-minute video summary by AEI Senior Scholar, Christina Hoff Sommers: http://youtu.be/vyFjPHwF6To Articles:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/05/the-biggest-myth-about-the-gender-wage-gap/276367/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/opinion/05farrell.htmlhttp://www.city-journal.org/2011/21_3_gender-gap.htmlhttp://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/01/no-women-don-t-make-less-money-than-men.htmlhttp://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-salary-gap-between-men-and-women-oh-please/http://www.amazon.com/Why-Men-Earn-More-Startling/dp/0814472109http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-gender-pay-gap-is-a-complete-myth/http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2012/04/16/its-time-that-we-end-the-equal-pay-myth/http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2013/06/18/women_and_the_unequal_pay_myth_100407.html Women's wage gap? GM announces CEO Mary Barra's total compensation: $14.4 million - 55% over her predecessor. http://cnnmon.ie/bkgnews

David's Saga: A continuing series on work today and related topics. Episode 16: The End of Jobs

In the previous episode, David and Susan tried to figure out the wisest approach to donating their time and money.  Having enjoyed the unusually deep conversation, they decided to go even deeper: "what's going to happen with all the jobs getting automated and offshored?"

This time, it wasn't a dialogue. It was something David has been thinking about for a long time:

"All we keep hearing is how jobs are disappearing. First it was ATMs replacing tellers, then self-checkout replacing supermarket checkers. Now they're developing driverless vehicles, robotic fast-food chefs and servers, baristas, and bartenders. 

"Wonderful, transformative teachers will, on video, teach classes using immersive simulations and interactivity. Millions of teachers from elementary school to graduate school will thus be replaced by a better digital version. The human touch will be provided by lower-paid paraprofessionals.

"IBM is developing a robot that will replace those annoying clothing sales people---It will use a laser to instantly get your measurements and walk you to clothes that will look great on you.

"IBM is also developing Dr. Watson, software designed to be better than human doctors at diagnosing and recommending treatment. Indeed, artificial intelligence is replacing all sorts of professionals, from accountants to insurance adjusters.

"There simply won't be enough jobs.

"They've always said that every time a technology was invented: the cotton gin was going to eliminate farming jobs. The car was going to eliminate blacksmith and buggywhip makers. Yet every time, more jobs are created. But this time it will be different because unlike previous generations of manufacturing, when you develop a piece of software, essentially no more people are required to distribute it to millions of people worldwide. Besides, the cost of hiring an American has gone wild, with ObamaCare merely the latest on top of disability, worker's comp, Social Security, ADA compliance, Family and Medical Leave, and defending the ever increasing number of worker-rights lawsuits. With demographic trends and the Democrats' far superior messaging machine, Internet strategy and ground game, and with the media at their back. this ain't no pendulum: it's a long-term trend.

"So what's going to happen? In the short run, the middle-class will keep getting hollowed out. The people who are software engineers and such for corporations that make silicon-based products--the Apples, Googles, Amazons--will do fine. And people in such non-offshoreable, not automatable professions like dentist, occupational therapist, and fitness trainer will be okay. But most other folks, because of automatization, will have no choice but to take a menial service job like restaurant worker or janitor, or be on the taxpayer's dole. To avoid a revolt, the government is going to have to keep extending unemployment checks indefinitely, or institute a guaranteed income. 

"With few people making good incomes, only companies that make basics will  stay viable.  Even car manufacturers will go out of business because people will keep their cars longer and longer, repairing and repairing rather than replacing. 

"People won't be able to afford to fly--the cost of the airplanes and the fuel will be beyond what people can pay, even if the airlines were to make no profit and the government were to nationalize them. 

"And of course, it becomes a vicious cycle. The more companies that go out of business, the fewer the jobs, and the less income people make. 

"And so what will happen in the long-term?  My best guess is that we will become a much less materialistic society. We'll live very simply, much like we did centuries ago except that with computers and software being cheap, everyone will have technology to enhance their lives beyond that in earlier centuries. The focus of government and private initiatives will be on the very basics like health care, which will continue to improve thanks to that ever improving technology. 

"People need to work to have a sense of meaning and so they will continue to work at low or even no pay, just as so many journalists, artists, even reader reviewers on Amazon do today. 

"And we'll have more spare time, which we will, hopefully, use wisely. Rather than getting stoned on pot--which I'm sure will be legalized nationwide if only to anesthetize the population through its economectomy--more people will focus on creative expression through writing and the arts, and through relationships: mentoring, friendship, and family. And the lack of materialism will be good for the environment. So crazy at it sounds, I like to think the end of jobs, may, net, be good for humankind."

Susan responded, "So every time I hear of another mass layoff or roboticization of some job, I should cheer?"

"Maybe."

And with that, David and Susan stared into the fire until all that was left in their personal pyrospectacular were a few embers floating into the chimney. Alas, tomorrow was to be less peaceful.

I hope to post the next episode tomorrow (Tuesday) morning.

David's Saga: a continuing series on work today and related issues. Episode 15: Giving Wisely

In the previous episode, David and Susan had quite the fireside chat: from whether work-life balance is overrated to whether their mismatched sex drives could be fixed. In the end, they changed the topic to something easier: trying to figure out the wisest way to volunteer.

David opened the discussion: "The foundational question is whether it's better to serve the most needy which is what pulls at your heartstrings, or to serve those with the greatest potential to profit, like when medics on the battlefield triage, allocating their limited resources to the people they're most likely to save."

"But when there are people starving in Africa, can you justify helping gifted kids in America?"

"Actually, yes. Help the gifted and you're more likely to create a ripple effect. The gifted have the most potential to be wise leaders in government, nonprofits, companies. They're the ones with the best chance of curing cancer, of preventing me from getting a third heart attack, or any heart attack."

"I can't ignore the most vulnerable. Do you really think Jesus was misguided when he said, "Whatever you did for one of the least of my brothers and sisters, you did for me?"

"Fine. You serve the least among us and I'll serve the most among us and you'll feel good about yourself and I'll have done more to improve humankind."

Susan realized she wasn't going to get anywhere with David, so she switched from strategy to tactics. "I think I should volunteer at a nearby public school that has mainly poor kids."

"You're going to give them piano lessons? That's just what will most help them out of poverty."

"Well, what if I directed a play there, a musical, maybe something political like Rent or even Les Mis after school. Even you've always said that theatre can be transformative."

"True, hearing those lines again and again penetrates. And the teamwork and the poise, and it's so motivating. I've never seen kids work as hard as when working on a play."

"And not just the actors: the set builders, the prop person, even the ushers. Okay, I'm going to see if I can find a school that will let me do it. I still have a teaching license so I'll bet some school will."

"Actually, I think a principal with half a brain will be thrilled."

"Okay, David, what are you going to do to volunteer?"

"Like I found out at work with the single-payer bill, you sure can make a big difference by volunteering for some government lobbying group. Government has huge power, especially today."

"True."

"Yeah, but that's my day job. I should do something different. Maybe something local so I can see the benefit, like create a Mentor Match website where adults and gifted kids could sign up to mentor kids."

"Yeah, but is Sage Valley the place on earth with the greatest need, excuse me, the place you can make the biggest difference?"

"Touche."

"How about this? I try to raise say $100,000 from any fat cats I can find and then issue a challenge to the membership of the Society for Neuroscience--that's 46,000 of the world's leading brain scientists. Something like, "The first scientist who can reliably predict IQ from a genome or brain scan would win the $100,000 prize.'"

"Why that?"

Because it's not politically correct to study intelligence so the government, foundations, and biotech  companies aren't studying it. The $100,000 prize would incent scientists to study that very important thing."

"Why is it so important?"

"Because if we can understand the biological basis of intelligence, we may be able to develop a cure for mental retardation--a huge percentage of violent felons in prison have an IQ well below average. And that knowledge could also be used to enhance normal intelligence. While intelligence can be used for good and for evil, there's no question that a smarter populus would end up being a net good for humankind."

"Yeah, that's what the Nazis said."

"There's a world of difference between developing a drug that a person or a prospective parent could elect to take to ensure her child had normal intelligence than the Nazis who wanted to sterilize people, kill people, to create a master race."

"You're dreaming."

"After seeing that my just writing a white paper changed health care for every American, I'm in the mood to keep dreaming. You go and direct Rent, I'll go and try to raise some money."

"David, I'm actually enjoying this sort of deeper conversation. We haven't done it in a long time. How about we do it again soon, maybe even tomorrow night? Any idea what you might like to talk about?"

"How about discussing the end of jobs: What will happen as the result of all the jobs that are getting offshored or roboticized?"

"Until tomorrow."

HERE is the next episode.