Laura Lee Rose on Career Coaching

Laura Lee Rose on Career Coaching Laura Lee Rose is a career expert and the head of Rose Coaching. She  teaches job seekers both in person and online how to more effectively find a career. She took a moment to discuss why and when you might need a career coach. Why is career coaching so important in the current job market?If you have a coach, you are 95% more likely to achieve your goals. A career coach offers objective assessments and career advancement guidance to help you:Reassess life goals and develop action plansProvide balance between work and lifeStrategize how to deal with stressful situationsMake professional and life decisionsPrioritize projects and timelinesImprove business and working relationshipsAvoid urgent situations involving high risks or challengesIdentify core strengths and maximize their potentialSimplify life to reduce stress and increase productivityManage your time  wiselyHow has searching for a job changed over the last few years?In today’s economy, employees are interested in the Total Package. It’s not enough to be technically savvy or an expert in your specific role. Since companies are in the business to make money, you also need to be able to tangibly illustrate how you can make the company money. You need to be able to quantify your performance against the company’s mission and goals. Soft skills, business networking, marketing and lead generation have become important differentials in individual resumes, regardless of the role or job title.What misconceptions about finding a job are you finding out there?The old chronological format is no longer a sufficient resume format. Merely listing previous job titles and task lists will not set you apart from the crowd. Incorporating self-authored short videos, articles, and presentations to quickly illustrate your expertise, personality, and passion for your craft has much more impact.People do business with people they know, like, and trust. Therefore, business networking has also been elevated in finding a job. Social media and LinkedIn applications make it easier to find the right people to connect with.How has technology changed the job search?As mentioned above, you now have multiple ways for prospective employers to get to know you. This is a two-edged sword. While you can show your expertise and promote yourself as an authority in your craft, you can also be caught off-guard. Mixing your professional contacts with your family/friend contacts on Facebook brings along its share of risks.In the old days, it was simpler to keep your private life private. With today’s technology, individuals now need to be mindful of keeping work and personal life both separate and professional.What trends in hiring and human resources should we watch out for?Since many global organizations conduct business via Skype/webcam, teleconferences, and web conference, hiring strategies will start incorporating web conference technology in both their hiring and their  the performance eva luation practices. Since many organizations will be hiring remote employees, more focus will be placed on remote employee procedures and how to better manage/evaluate remote employees.Part of the reference checks will include social media checks as well, which is why I recommend individuals keep their personal and professional social media separate.

Thomas Jefferson and the Embargo Act of 1807

Thomas Jefferson and the Embargo Act of 1807 The Embargo Act of 1807 was an attempt by President Thomas Jefferson and the U.S. Congress to prohibit  American ships from trading in foreign ports. It was intended to punish Britain and France for interfering with American trade while the two major European powers were at war with each other. The embargo was precipitated  primarily by Napoleon Bonapartes 1806 Berlin Decree, which announced that neutral ships carrying British-made goods were subject to seizure by France, thus exposing American ships to attacks by privateers. Then, a year later, sailors from the USS Chesapeake were forced into service  by officers from the British ship HMS Leopard. That was the final straw. Congress passed the Embargo Act in December 1807 and Jefferson signed it into law on December 22, 1807. The president hoped that the act would prevent a war between the United States and Britain. At the same time, Jefferson saw it as a way to keep ships as military resources out of harms way, buy time for the preservation, and signify (after the Chesapeake event) that the U.S. recognized that a war was in the future. Jefferson also saw it as a way to cease non-productive war-profiteering which was undermining the coveted but never achieved goal of American autarky- economic independence from Britain and other economies. Perhaps inevitably, the Embargo Act was also a precursor to the War of 1812. Effects  of the Embargo Economically, the embargo devastated American shipping exports and cost the American economy about 8 percent in decreased gross national product in 1807. With the embargo in place, American exports declined by 75%, and imports declined by 50%- the act did not completely eliminate trade and domestic partners. Before the embargo, exports to the United States reached $108 million. One year later, they were just over $22 million. Yet Britain and France, locked in the Napoleonic Wars, were not greatly damaged by the loss of trade with Americans. So the embargo intended to punish Europes greatest powers instead negatively impacted ordinary Americans. Although the western states in the Union were relatively unaffected, as they had at that point little to trade, other parts of the country were hit hard. Cotton growers in the South lost their British market entirely. Merchants in New England were the hardest hit. In fact, discontent was so widespread there that there was serious talk by local political leaders of seceding from the Union, decades before the  Nullification Crisis  or the  Civil War. Jeffersons Presidency Another result of the embargo was that smuggling increased across the border with Canada, and smuggling by ship also became prevalent. So the law was both ineffective and difficult to enforce. Many of those weaknesses were addressed by a number of amendments and new acts written by Jeffersons Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin (1769–1849), passed by Congress, and signed into law by the president: but the president himself essentially ceased active support on his own after signaling his decision to not seek a third term in office in December 1807. Not only would the embargo taint Jeffersons presidency, making him fairly unpopular by its end, but the economic effects also didnt fully reverse themselves until the end of the War of 1812. End of the Embargo The embargo was repealed by Congress early in 1809, just days before the end of Jeffersons presidency. It was replaced by a less restrictive piece of legislation, the Non-Intercourse Act, which prohibited trade with Britain and France. The newer law was no more successful than the Embargo Act had been, and relations with Britain continued to fray until, three years later, President James Madison obtained a declaration of war from Congress and the War of 1812 began. Sources and Further Reading Frankel, Jeffrey A. The 1807–1809 Embargo against Great Britain. The Journal of Economic History 42.2 (1982): 291–308.Irwin, Douglas A. The Welfare Cost of Autarky: Evidence from the Jeffersonian Trade Embargo, 1807–09. Review of International Economics 13.4 (2005): 631–45.Mannix, Richard. Gallatin, Jefferson, and the Embargo of 1808. Diplomatic History 3.2 (1979): 151–72.Spivak, Burton. Jeffersons English Crisis: Commerce, Embargo, and the Republican Revolution. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1979.