Career Tip of the Day: Step Your International Language Game Up

From bilingual customer service reps to medical professionals to global executives to international entrepreneurs, knowing more than one language has its obvious perks.
And the demand for professionals rises time and time again. Reports show that 22 of the 100 largest U.S. cities are now majority minority cities, meaning there are now more minorities than white people in almost a quarter of America’s biggest metropolises.

According to Census data, over the past decade the Latino population has increased from 35.3 million in 2000 to 50.5 million in the 2010.
Experts say the top industries for bilingual workers include healthcare, financial services, sales and marketing, social services and public service. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also reports that there are a several emerging occupations in social services such as cross-cultural counselors, bilingual teachers and consumer credit counselors.

Expand your horizons by brushing up on your Spanish, Russian, Italian, French, or Mandarin Chinese, especially if you desire to work abroad. Though English is spoken in many countries, in some it it’s not, and in other cases it works to one’s benefit when they can speak to and relate with someone in their native language.

Use learning tools such as Rosetta Stone or mobile phone apps. Take a local community college or online course. If you’ve already studied a language, practice it on a daily basis by conversing with native speakers. If you know one language, learn another. Even listening to music in a different language or watching foreign films can help you learn how to speak fluently. Volunteer with a diversity or cultural organization where you’ll be forced to use the language frequently.

Only Ex-Convicts Need Apply: Detroit Hosts Special Jobs Fair

DETROIT - In a city where over a quarter of its residents are unemployed, and almost 30,000 of them are either on probation or out on parole, Detroit is looking to put ex-convicts back to work. On Wednesday, the city held an "Offenders Only" Job Fair at the East Lake Church.

Detroit City Council President Charles Pugh organized the job fair, along with Wayne County Community College and Kelly Services. Pugh, a former television and radio personality in his first term on the council, has been advocating for job opportunities for convicted felons since he took office in 2010.
The city council has even gone as far as trying to get the question 'Have you ever been convicted of a felony?' removed from job applications in Detroit.

"That group (ex-convicts) has difficulties finding jobs," Pugh said in an interview with Detroit Public Radio on Thursday. "A lot of times, folks who come out (of jail) and get roadblock after roadblock and door closed, they give up and some of them re-commit crimes because they feel that's their only option."

The job fair featured up to 200 potential job openings from employers, and the only people allowed a shot at the jobs had to have a felony on their record. Pugh feels that the lack of job opportunities for felons, including violent felons, leads to recidivism.
"In this tough job market, we know that it is difficult, regardless of whether you have a felony or not, to find a job," Pugh said. "But we feel that population needs just a boost of confidence and some hope that there are employers out there who will give them second chances."

A Pew Center survey on recidivism found that it actually declined in Michigan by 18 percent between 1999 and 2004 because of a dramatic drop in the return of technical violators. However, returns to prison for new crimes jumped by almost 21 percent during the period.
Since 2007, the Michigan Department of Corrections' numbers show that parolees are returning to prison 33 percent less frequently. One of the organizations that offered assistance at the job fair was the Detroit-based non-profit organization Focus: HOPE.
Founded in 1968 as a way to ease the racial tension in the aftermath of the Detroit riots, Focus: HOPE provides educational and vocational training options for people with low incomes as well as assistance with food for those who are struggling.

"Our primary courses of study would be advanced manufacturing, which helps individuals to train to become computer numerical control machinists and the other is information technology," said Julian Pate, the Director of Education at Focus: HOPE since 2002. "These paths can ultimately end up with a Bachelor's Degree."

Focus: HOPE also has machinist training and medical assistant programs that are open to anyone, regardless of their criminal history or education. They have recently launched a program in conjunction with the "Earn & Learn" programs that is centered on black males ages 18-24 who have recently been incarcerated or chronically unemployed.

"What we're doing is trying to prepare people for the workplace," Pate said. "It might be janitorial services, or individuals who are trying to put themselves on a sustainable footing and be trained along the way.

"It's what we call 'work readiness training.' For four weeks we will be exposing them to the broad range of what it means to be a customer service worker, as well as to help them identify the course of study they may be interested in."

What do you think? In today’s tough job market, is it fair to have a jobs fair for convicted felons only?

The program will work with potential employers to supply subsidized employment for the former offenders that will allow them to keep training and make money at the same time. The hope is that the offender is able to get hired on at the business after the training period ends.
Detroit is not the first city to hold job fairs for ex-convicts. In Cleveland, similar job fairs have been held, led by an organization named Breaking The Cycle.
"It is disheartening because this community is in need of jobs, and there are plenty of people who want to work," said Michael Jones, the head of Breaking the Cycle. "But then no one wants to give a shot to someone with a past."

The group has held yearly "Offenders Only" job fairs since 2009. Breaking the Cycle even sends attendees' resumes to businesses that did not attend the events.

In Detroit, Focus: HOPE's partnership with Earn & Learn will be a two-year program that will help up to 1,100 young black men in southeast Michigan. Any companies associated with the program would be bonded so any liability that could come from bringing a former felon in to their business would be minimized.

"Individuals that have been involved in violent crimes (including sex offenses), crimes against children, and homicides will not be considered for entry," Pate said. "Only one of our programs (IT) has a requirement of having no felony convictions on your record. That's primarily because of the IT industry's rules on security."

There were over 1,200 people in attendance, with 500 being pre-registered and interviewed. Pugh said that there were 200 jobs given out at Wednesday's job fair, a startling number considering that many job fairs in Detroit geared toward non-offenders and college graduates often do not hire or offer any employment.

"It was a huge success because over 200 people got jobs," Pugh said. "There were people from transportation companies, cleaning services, the City of Detroit was there with job opportunities. It was an opportunities to give people who have had difficulties a second chance."

These job fairs have not been universally well received. The city has insisted that it is trying to lure and keep college graduates in Detroit, yet has not made any efforts as aggressive as these to host job fairs for students and recent grads who make up a large percentage of the new unemployed in the city and in the state.

"Simply put, if the city can do this for convicts -- which, I think, they shouldn't have done in the first place - then they can certainly do this for recent grads," said Ann Harris, a Detroit native who holds a Bachelor's Degree from Wayne State University."I've had to struggle for every job I've ever had, and yes, I've been passed up over someone who's less educated than me."
Michigan has seen a mass exodus from the state of college graduates in the last decade with two of the state's largest schools, Michigan State University and the University of Michigan, pumping out largest numbers. Chicago is home to the largest concentration of MSU Alumni in the country, while 53 percent of Michigan grads leave the state after graduation due to the lack of opportunities here.

"Just because someone says they have reformed doesn't mean that they have," said Harris, who works as a department specialist for the city of Dearborn's Public Libraries and is currently pursuing her Master's degree. "They need to go through the same job seeking process as the rest of us--if someone doesn't hire them because they've spent time in jail, oh well."

"Back in 2002, it wasn't hard for me to find a job," said Courtney Smith, 31, a 2002 graduate from Wilberforce University, who is currently finishing her Master's Degree in social work at Wayne State. "What was difficult for me was finding a job in the field of communications. I could not find one at all."

"It was difficult or me to find the part time job that I have now, but I think it will be easier for me to find employment once I get my Master's. But this is Michigan and jobs are scarce so it will be very competitive."

Focus: HOPE picked up 60 applicants to their programs at the job fair. They will be given the same testing processed that anyone would receive, with their criminal history being irrelevant to their entering.

"Our programs are open to anyone," Pate said. "Even though we're located in Detroit, we're not geocentric. We have had applicants in the past from out of state. Because we're in a highly African-American community doesn't mean we're restricted there either."

"We are open to providing opportunities to anyone that is looking for them. We really say that fundamentally, the only restrictions that we have is that you have a highs school diploma or GED, and that you are drug-free. That's where the conversation starts."

Pugh says that the city is organizing a second Offender's Only Job Fair that is tentatively set to take place in January. There has been no word yet on whether there will be any similar job fairs for college graduates -- who city officials have made a point of saying they are trying to lure back to Detroit -- and non-offenders looking for work in Detroit.

"In the meantime, there will be job readiness fairs that will help people to be employed," Pugh said. "I have heard employers, and ex-offenders say this is a second chance and they don't want to mess that up. Compared to people who don't have felonies, they realize that the job market is slim for them...even slimmer."

"There are tax breaks and incentives to hire people with felonies. I hope that employers will become educated about the benefits to their business for hiring somebody who used to be in prison or has a felony on their record. It could help your bottom line."

Billionaire Bob Johnson Offers Plan to Cure Unemployment

As Congress weighs the Obama administration's jobs package, RLJ Companies CEO Robert Johnson is pushing a proposal that he says marshals the capacity of the nation's biggest companies to significantly reduce black unemployment.
Johnson has dubbed his idea the "RLJ Rule." It calls on Fortune 1000 companies to voluntarily consider a more diverse pool of qualified candidates when filling senior level job openings and hiring contractors. Johnson has described it as the business version of the National Football League's Rooney Rule, a 2003 mandate that required teams to consider diverse candidate pools when filling senior positions.

Johnson, the United States' first black billionaire, has been critical of the way that the Obama administration and Congress have tried to address the nation's stubborn unemployment problem. He believes businesses can create solutions to social problems.
"You can't have a society where more than 42 million people are falling backwards," he said of the black population in the U.S. "That's just not sustainable. You can say that [the problem is] education or globalization. But you can also point to the fact that corporations are either not reaching out aggressively enough or are actively blocking the door."

Johnson is perhaps best known for founding Black Entertainment Television, in the 1980s. He promoted the network as a vehicle for airing and addressing black community interests. But, critics said BET televised a shrinking slate of news in favor of an expanded selection of syndicated sitcoms and music videos. In 2000, Johnson sold the network to Viacom for a reported $3 billion. Johnson founded what would become the RLJ Companies in 2005, and says its divisions have implemented the RLJ Rule.

The rule would have companies consistently -- but voluntarily -- consider at least two black candidates when filling job openings at the vice president level. Johnson also wants the country's largest companies to consider at least two black-owned businesses when contracting out work or buying supplies.

"Right now, when jobs at that vice president and above level come up, the senior VP or president goes out to dinner, maybe the golf course, and mentions, 'We are looking for a VP of this or that,'" said Johnson. "Before you know it, someone mentions a name, the job is filled and nobody feels they have done anything wrong."

"But if that's the way that most opportunities flow," Johnson continued, "then in most cases that's an opportunity stream that doesn't include many African Americans. So, consciously or unconsciously, what happens is a perpetuation of privilege and disadvantage that just goes on and on. "

A PRIVATE ANSWER
Johnson pointed to one of RLJ's employees, Thomas Baltimore, as an example of a different approach to hiring.

"This guy worked for Marriott and Hilton and was never in line to be CEO of either company, Johnson said. "Now, in our company, he is CEO of a $2 billion hotel REIT [real estate investment trust]. He's creating jobs, tax revenue and generating economic value. It was just a matter of giving him an opportunity."

Strayer Education, Inc., a for-profit college where Johnson is a member of the board, offers another example, he said.

Karl McDonell, Strayer's president and CEO, said practices similar to the RLJ Rule are "something that we have always done."
"What I can do is say to other organizations that many be curious about whether they should adopt it, that kind of effort has worked well for us," he said.

The company's senior management needs to be diverse, McDonell said, to reflect the school's student body. Strayer's average student is 35 years old. More than half of those studying at Strayer's schools are African American and about two-thirds are women, he said.
McDonnell estimates that about half of Strayer's senior management -- the dean level and above -- are women or African Americans.

"When we sit down and make decisions that will affect our students," he said, "we want to be sure that those ideas are being heard by people [who] have some first-hand knowledge of the practical impact of those decisions."
When asked about public response to his proposal since it was announced Oct. 2, Johnson said a member of the president's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, La Opinion newspaper publisher Monica Lozano, had emailed him about it. (Lozano did not respond to a request for comment from HuffPost.)

Johnson said Lozano endorsed the RLJ Rule in her email, but called for it to include members of other racial and ethnic minority groups. Johnson said he is open to that idea.
But whether it includes other minority groups or not, the RLJ Rule would carry none of the financial penalties that have given the NFL's Rooney Rule teeth. And that, several economists said, is the primary problem. Even if widely adopted by Fortune 1000 companies, the proposal would likely have only a small impact on the country's staggering 16 percent black unemployment rate. That's because it calls on companies to do something most do not do very well.

A SYSTEMIC PROBLEM
Johnson's proposal is, "interesting," but likely to have only small impact, said Algernon Austin, a sociologist at the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit where he serves as director of the agency's Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy program. Without a law to guide them, people that hire and award contracts evaluate their options and take cues from the broader culture.

"Most Americans have no concept of how bad black unemployment is or what nearly 20 percent unemployment really means," said Austin. "So, what most people do is dismiss it as some kind fluke of the recession or a problem of work ethic. Neither is remotely accurate."
Black unemployment sat at 9 percent when the recession began in December 2007 and reached a high of 16.7 percent -- a figure unseen since 1983 -- in August. Fresh federal data released Friday indicate that black unemployment fell slightly to 16 percent in September.
By comparison, white unemployment sat at 4.4 percent -- very close to what most economists consider full employment -- when the recession began. It rose to a high of 9.1 percent in November 2009. In September, the white unemployment rate was 8 percent.
Johnson says the RLJ Rule would immediately reduce the unemployment disparity between black and white individuals with bachelor's degrees (7.9 percent of African Americans with bachelor's degrees were unemployed compared to 4.3 percent of their white peers in 2010). Over time, it could also reshape hiring decisions throughout participating companies. And the RLJ Rule would also help companies that serve or sell products to an increasingly diverse public better understand their customers, Johnson said.
"This is not a mandate and this is not a program that attempts to appeal to the better angels of anyone's nature," said Johnson. "We've tried that. We are making the business case for fixing this problem."

But the RLJ rule would not address the crippling levels of joblessness among black workers with less education, said John Powell, executive director of the Kirwan Institute at Ohio State University, which produces research on the role race plays in shaping the economic condition of individuals and families.

In 2010, the most recent year for which data are available by race and education level, nearly 23 percent of black workers without a high school diploma could not find work, compared to nearly 14 percent of their white peers.
"Johnson has signed on to the idea of trickle down," said Powell. "But trickle down, as we can all see, does not work."

Margaret Simms, an economist and fellow at the nonprofit Urban Institute in Washington, D.C., considers some of Johnson's ideas to be grounded in well-documented patterns in in the labor market and economy. Minority-owned companies are far more likely than others to hire non-white employees, for example, while white-owned companies similarly hire white employees. The contracting portion of Johnson's idea could bolster black businesses and therefore reduce black unemployment, Simms said.

Affirmative action, diversity and inclusion programs have also played a critical role in expanding the number of African Americans with college degrees and the job experience to be qualified for high-level corporate posts. But these programs are only as effective as the managers behind them, Simms noted.

"Right now, companies say, 'We did announce widely, we put this in minority press, we tried,'" Simms said. "This idea might actually put more pressure on companies to make the effort, take action to be sure that their pool -- the people they actually consider -- is broad and in some ways deep."

Tom Shapiro, a Brandies University sociologist who studies racial inequality and public policy, spent the summer examining the impact of employment requirements written into the South African constitution after the end of apartheid. In South Africa, companies must provide evidence of their affirmative action-like efforts in order to remain eligible for government contracts.

In the United States, attempts to address the the economic legacy of slavery, Jim Crow and ongoing discrimination in the labor market and business lending have not been so direct. Today, any discussion of affirmative action or wealth distribution is highly controversial. In 2008, the Obama administration discussed but passed on the opportunity to apply something like the RLJ Rule to stimulus funding, Shapiro said.

"Unfortunately, this kind of idea is even less palatable in a moment where the lower 99 [percent], as they are saying now, are being squeezed," said Shapiro. "The majority of families are working harder and running faster on their treadmill. It's an idea that might make a lot of people angry even in the face of real evidence that everyone is not suffering equally."
Powell, of the Kirwin Institute, considers Johnson's proposal to be part of a growing slate of small-scale private efforts to address what are deeply rooted, systemic inequalities. Charter schools, for example, are supposed to solve problems in the public education system. And the city of New Orleans' Hurricane Katrina evacuation plan involved advising people to get in their cars and leave before the flood. Calling on private companies to solve the black unemployment crisis is no different, Powell said.

"We like to say a rising tide lifts all boats, but what if you are in a car or you don't have a car or a boat at all?" he asked. "Look what happened in New Orleans."

What's Holding You Back? 9 Ways to Spark a Breakthrough

Whatever your goal, there comes a point when you require a special kind of strategy to jet propel yourself to the next level.

By Lindsy Van GelderO, The Oprah Magazine From the October 2011 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine

Maybe you've hit a motivational wall and need to get back on track. Or maybe it's time to head down another road entirely. But how? What you're looking for is a breakthrough. Here are nine ways to make it happen.

1. Go Public

When Grand Plans linger in the daydream stage, there's always a risk that they'll die there. Going on the record is one way to keep them alive. "If you tell everybody you're running a marathon, you don't want to quit," says Laura Skladzinski, who at 24 briefly held the record as the youngest woman ever to have run marathons in all 50 states. Months before she started her record-breaking quest, Skladzinski launched her blog, 50by25.com, to force herself to press onward. "When you put your goals in front of others, there's accountability," she says—and serious motivation in not wanting to lose face or let yourself down.

2. Join the Club

Whatever your goal you can draw enthusiasm and ideas from like-minded dreamers. Comeback Moms provides advice to women reentering the job market. The Freelancers Union offers meet-ups, Webinars, and job leads for consultants, graphic designers, writers, and other independent contractors. SparkPeople includes free personalized weight loss tools like meal plans and fitness trackers and support from millions of members. Edison Nation links inventors with companies that can turn their ideas into products.

3. Confront the Risks

You might think that projecting certainty will get your loved ones to buy into your goal, but often it's being honest and vulnerable about the stakes that can really activate your support system. When Cynthia (C.J.) Warner, a former BP executive, craved a career change, she sat down with her husband and two teenage kids and candidly shared the potential consequences. They would have to return to the United States from England, where they'd lived for a decade. There would be less money...or even no money for a time. On the plus side, she'd be developing renewable energy. "My kids were captivated," says Warner. "My son said, 'That's so cool, Mom; you've got to do it,' and my husband was supportive, too. So I dove in." Now she is president of Sapphire Energy, a thriving firm that develops fuel made from algae.

4. When in Doubt, DIY

If help isn't forthcoming ask yourself: 'Is there another way to make this happen?' For Amanda Hocking, hundreds of rejection slips initially crushed her hopes of being an author. "Then I realized, if you have a dream, you can't let people tell you no," she says. "I decided to do whatever it took for my books to get out there." So she self-published her novel electronically on amazon.com. The first day, she sold five books; the next day, five more. Hocking kept writing—and publishing. Pricing her books low (some at 99 cents) and releasing frequent new titles helped fuel her fan base. Today she has grossed $2 million and become a best-selling e-author on Amazon. She's poised for stardom in the print world, too: St. Martin's Press offered her a four-book, $2 million deal and bought the rights to her series, The Trylle Trilogy. The first one will be printed in January.

5. Rely on the Kindness of Strangers

Biologists Jennifer D. Calkins, PhD, and Jennifer M. Gee, PhD, raised $4,873 to study quails in Mexico. Scott Wilson pulled in nearly $1 million to design a wristband that turns the iPod nano into a watch—and his creation is now sold in Apple stores. Musician Jenny Owen Youngs came up with $38,543 to record an album. Each of these projects owes thanks to Kickstarter, a Web site for creative types. Along with sites like IndieGoGo and RocketHub, Kickstarter allows you to post detailed proposals online and solicit pledges to make them happen.

6. Know Your Strengths

Sometimes Strengths—your ability to speak Spanish or repair gadgets—seem so obvious, they're easy to overlook. After a volunteering trip to a refugee camp in northern Uganda, Hunter Heaney persuaded his friends Anna Gabriel and Chris Holmes to join forces for Ugandan women he'd met, many of whom had been widowed and raped, and had children who had been kidnapped and forced to join militia groups. They knew they wanted to help, but their plan really ignited when Gabriel, the daughter of musician Peter Gabriel, realized she could tap her formidable Rolodex. "I've been surrounded by a network of musicians all my life," she says, "and I realized that was something I could give." So they created the Voice Project, in which famous musicians record a cover song on video, then invite the covered musician to do the same and, well, play it forward. The music video chain now includes Andrew Bird, Billy Bragg, Mike Mills of REM, and Gabriel's father, among others. So far the project has raised $225,000 for the Ugandan women.

7. Spread the Word

When Vicki Abeles realized that the endless homework and standardized-test preparation being forced on her kids was souring them on school, she decided to make a documentary about the problem. With little hope of landing a conventional distributor, the lawyer and mother of three school-age kids screened her film at every church, library, and school that would have her. Viewers told their friends and fellow parents, who requested screenings in their cities. "We developed a supportive community for the film by word of mouth," says Abeles. The rough cut expanded to a feature-length film, Race to Nowhere, that's now been watched by some 750,000 people in thousands of venues across 17 countries. Abeles, who frequently moderates audience discussions afterward, says, "With every screening, the conversation about homework is starting to change."

8. Cultivate Wonder

"Many of the world's inventions don't come from people simply working hard and throwing themselves at a project," says life coach Kathlyn Hendricks, PhD. "They come from wonder—from curiosity and a willingness to be delighted. That is your fuel source and your reservoir, and most people need to practice it at least ten minutes a day." The best way to shake free of your usual thinking patterns, Hendricks adds, is to make the sound hmmm aloud. "It's impossible to criticize yourself when you're making that sound," she says. "Follow it up with a question: 'Hmmm, I wonder what the company logo should look like. Hmmm, I wonder if I need a Web site. Hmmm, I wonder if I can....'" The answers will often launch you into new territory.

9. Embrace Your Critics

Naysayers come with the territory. Baseball lover Justine Siegal endured a lifetime of put-downs. As a 13-year-old, she was told that her coach didn't want her on his all-boy team. At 16 she heard that no man would listen to a woman on a field. "I'm shy but determined," says Siegal, who in 2008 spoke at the Society for American Baseball Research conference. "I stood in front of hundreds of people, mostly men, and asked them what major league baseball was planning to do beyond selling pink jerseys to get girls involved." Soon after, Siegal was hired as an assistant coach by minor league team the Brockton Rox. Then Siegal, a longtime pitcher, reached out to major league managers about going where no woman had gone before: to the pitcher's mound during spring training. Everyone turned her down, but she persisted with in-person pleas. This past spring, Siegal pitched batting practice for the Cleveland Indians. She went on to throw for the Oakland A's, the Tampa Bay Rays, the Houston Astros, the New York Mets, and the St. Louis Cardinals. Sure, it's intimidating. But every time she climbs the mound, she says, "I take all the butterflies and trembling and I just stuff them."

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