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Monthly Meeting

Posted on by Adrienne Roman

The Breakfast Club NJ Presents: :“LinkedIn: It’s About Being Found”

Presented by Alex Freund

Saturday October 8th,at 8:00am ET

Synopsis:

Please share this with other groups you may be in. Join us on Meetup.com at: http://www.meetup.com/The-Breakfast-Club-NJ/ to RSVP for the meeting.

Presentation: :“LinkedIn: It’s About Being Found”

In today’s market, a LinkedIn profile is a “must have” for any professional or job seeker as more than 90% of companies use LinkedIn to identify or vet a candidate. But having a profile isn’t enough — it’s ALL about being found. Alex Freund, The Landing Expert, will be featured in an insightful and highly valuable presentation for any professional: “LinkedIn: It’s About Being Found.”
This highly interactive session is designed to help you understand the dynamics of LinkedIn and how to position yourself for success. If you cannot be found, you cannot be considered for a position. There are a number of reasons why your profile might not appear in a search. Alex will reveal how to break through these impediments so that YOU make a recruiter’s search list.
And, not all components of your LinkedIn profile are created equal. In this presentation, you will learn which elements of your profile weigh more heavily in searches and which sections require your attention first. Alex will provide tips and easy-to-use tools that you can use right away to optimize your profile giving you a distinct competitive advantage.
Few spend much time cultivating their “headline” often inserting their last job title. But this important piece of real estate is how viewers define you – often within seconds. Learn how to structure a strong, compelling headline that has the viewer wanting to learn more about YOU.
During this event, participants will:
• Evaluate the role of LinkedIn in a job search
• Understand how to structure their profile to be “found”
• Learn how to address job transitions and unemployment
• Experience a recruiter’s view of a candidate
• Distinguish an optimized profile from a poor one

Acquire free tools and techniques to create a “stand out” profile

About the Speaker:
Alex Freund

LinkedIn: It's About Being Found

Alex Freund – The Landing Expert

Known as “The Landing Expert,” Alex Freund helps his clients land new positions and promotions through effective interviewing. As a former director at Honeywell, Sanofi and Tyco International, Alex has hired hundreds.
Currently, Alex is career coach with expertise in improving interviewing and making them confident and comfortable in the interviewing process. Alex has helped more than 600 clients ranging from managers to senior executives and CEOs in a multitude of industries.

Alex is well-known via his volunteering in several job-search networking groups where he is a frequent presenter, conducts workshops on interviewing, effective resumes, and LinkedIn in addition to publishing a blog written specifically for job seekers. Alex also teaches a course for people in transition via the Princeton Adult School and publishes The Landing Expert List, a free directory of job-search networking groups via his website at landingexpert.com.
Alex is a graduate of Cornell University and speaks five languages.

About the Meeting:

Networking begins at 7:30 am, meeting starts promptly at 8:00 am.

There is a $10 fee at the door to cover the cost of the room.

Be sure to tell your friends and bring them along. Be a part of our growing network of Job Seekers, Hiring Managers, Recruiters, Career Coaches, and people who want to be able to help themselves and each other.

Event Location:

Days Hotel Conference Center

195 Rt. 18 South, East Brunswick, NJ 08816

732-828-6900

Meeting Format:

7:30 to 8:00 – Registration & Open Networking

8:00 to 8:15 – Welcome and housekeeping

8:15 to 9:15 – Presentation by the guest speaker – Limited to 60 minutes

9:15 to 10:15 – Elevator Pitch – 30 Seconds about yourself, who you are, what you are looking for, target companies (3-4), how we can help you, how you can help others. Follow the rule of the Three B’s of Public Speaking: Be informative; Be brief; Be seated.

10:15 until you choose to leave – Open Networking, follow up with people you are interested in meeting following their elevator pitch, exchange business cards, peruse the library, arrange follow up meetings, etc.

The Breakfast Club NJ – 10 Points for Good Member Citizenship

1) Attend meetings regularly to keep group strong and help pay back to others (meeting logistics on our website www.thebreakfastclubnj.com)

2) Keep anti-virus on your machine up to date and run scan regularly

3) Review messages and if request for assistance please help whenever possible

4) Once you have received your invitation and joined our linked in group, connect to other members directly(questions see Gerry Peyton -gpeyton@ptd.net)

5) Join groups Facebook group, Google +, and connect to other members directly (questions see Adrienne Roman – adrienne1204@optonline.net)

6) Join groups twitter account (questions see George Pace – keeppace@gmail.com)

7) If you run across someone in transition invite them to join our group and sponsor them through process (details on our website www.thebreakfastclubnj.com)

8) Sunday mornings listen to our radio show, “Your Career Is Calling”, at 8am ET either on radio at 107.7 or via internet 24/7 live or on demand at www.1077thebronc.com (as this is a call in show your calls help make it successful)

9) If you are in transition put your elevator pitch in writing to group, ask for help with job search issues or connecting to people at target companies, regularly post job opportunities (from email you joined the group – send email to thebreakfastclubnj@yahoogroups.com)

10) Help fellow members whenever possible

  1. Attend meetings regularly to keep group strong and help pay back to others (meeting logistics on our website www.thebreakfastclubnj.com)
  2. Keep anti-virus on your machine up to date and run scan regularly
  3. Review messages and if request for assistance please help whenever possible
  4. Once you have received your invitation and joined our linked in group, connect to other members directly(questions see Gerry Peyton -gpeyton@ptd.net)
  5. Join groups Facebook group and connect to other members directly (questions see Adrienne Roman – adrienne1204@optonline.net)
  6. Join groups twitter account (questions see George Pace – keeppace@gmail.com)
  7. If you run across someone in transition invite them to join our group and sponsor them through process (details on our website www.thebreakfastclubnj.com)
  8. Sunday mornings listen to our radio show, “Your Career Is Calling”, at 8am ET either on radio at 107.7 or via internet 24/7 live or on demand at www.1077thebronc.com (as this is a call in show your calls help make it successful)
  9. If you are in transition put your elevator pitch in writing to group, ask for help with job search issues or connecting to people at target companies, regularly post job opportunities (from email you joined the group – send email to thebreakfastclubnj@yahoogroups.com)
  10. Help fellow members whenever possible

We look forward to seeing everyone let’s make this a great meeting for our members that are in transition and welcome those that have landed

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How Not Feeling Nervous When Interviewing

Posted on by Adam Kovitz

Most if not all people feel nervous before and during a job interview. For the past ten years, I’ve been helping people prepare for job interviews. I’m also a very experienced interviewer, but recently, when asked to be on a radio talk show, I went through the same emotions and nervousness as all my clients […]

The post How Not Feeling Nervous When Interviewing appeared first on Landing Expert Career Coaching.

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How Not Feeling Nervous When Interviewing

Posted on by Adam Kovitz

Most if not all people feel nervous before and during a job interview. For the past ten years, I’ve been helping people prepare for job interviews. I’m also a very experienced interviewer, but recently, when asked to be on a radio talk show, I went through the same emotions and nervousness as all my clients […]

The post How Not Feeling Nervous When Interviewing appeared first on Landing Expert Career Coaching.

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The Importance of IT Governance

Posted on by Adam Kovitz
http://ift.tt/2ct3ScL
Gartner defines IT Governance (ITG) as “the processes that ensure the effective and efficient use of IT in enabling an organization to achieve its goals.” ITG ensures that the IT organization operates in an effective, efficient and compliant fashion. This includes processes for project prioritization & management, product selection, systems implementation, IT security, oversight & review and even funding.
From the perspective of the IT users within an organization, IT governance is often seen as an unnecessary set of procedures set by senior management that hinders the productivity of the organization. While IT governance does represent a set of management standards and policies to be followed, at its core IT governance is primarily concerned with the alignment of the goals and objectives of the business with the utilization of its IT resources to effectively achieve the desired results. The end result of good IT governance is that it aligns your business strategically to support the growth of the IT enterprise architecture so that it delivers consistent and improved business value. In contrast, poor IT governance can lead to wasted resource efforts, bureaucracy, lower morale, reduced financial performance, and expose an organization to IT security issues.
Characteristics of Good IT Governance

  • IT investments and decisions are assessed in a similar manner to business investments and decisions. This means there is top management participation in key IT decisions. There is oversight of IT investments, and a steering committee of executives are held accountable for realizing benefits.
  • IT is an essential part of corporate planning and strategic planning. IT understands the business dynamics and contributes to the development of the business strategy. IT and business work together to identify opportunities and improve efficiencies.
  • Top IT risks are considered within the entire enterprise risk management framework. Risks such as data protection, IT security and business continuity receive periodic steering committee review.
  • IT performance is regularly reviewed and compared with industry best practices.
  • How decisions are made and why is well understood. Expectations and outcomes are clearly communicated to the stakeholders. Formal exception processes are documented to promote transparency.

As business organizations are becoming increasingly dependent on IT, there is growing recognition that IT governance is an essential part of the overall corporate governance. Alignment between IT and business strategy, as well as between IT and business governance, must develop and remain strong.

Click here to contact me regarding this or any other blog post.

David Schuchman

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What Makes a Website Effective?

Posted on by Adam Kovitz
If you soon plan to develop a new website, or if you have an existing one, it’s necessary that you understand the attributes and characteristics that can make or break the effectiveness of your online presence and brand. An unattractive or poorly built website will do more to hurt your online presence than to help it.
Website & Web Page Purpose
A good web design always caters to the needs of the user. Each page of your website needs to have a specific purpose & message. It must fill the need for your website users in the most effective way possible. Minimize mixing messages or topics on any one page. Keep separate topics or messages on their own pages, or create separate visual sections on a webpage with their own topics.

Organized for Good Communication

People reading on the web tend to want information quickly. So it is important to communicate clearly, and to make your information easy to read and digest. Some effective features to include in your web design include:
  • Organizing information using headlines and sub headlines.
  • Using bullet points instead of long winded sentences.
  • Each page or page section keeps to one topic.

Short Load Time

Everyone hates a website that takes a long time to load.  Tips to make page load times more effective include:
  • Optimizing image sizes (size and scale).
  • Do not use very high resolution images. Their data density requires more load time.
  • Combining code into a central CSS or JavaScript file, which reduces HTTP requests.

Clear Fonts
In general, Sans Serif fonts such as Arial and Verdana are easier to read online. Sans Serif fonts are contemporary looking fonts without decorative finishes of Serif fonts such as Times New Roman. The good font size for reading easily online is 15 – 16 point.
Block/Grid Layout
By placing content randomly on each web page, you can end up with a haphazard appearance that is unattractive and not functional. Grid based layouts arrange content into sections, columns and boxes that line up and feel balanced. Doing so leads to a better looking website design.
Add Images
A picture is worth a thousand words. Choosing the right images for your website can help with branding and in connecting with your target audience. If you don’t have high quality professional photos on hand, consider purchasing stock photos to lift the look of your website. Also consider using videos and other graphics. All of these can be much more effective at communicating than even the most well written piece of text.
Mobile Compatible
It is now very common to access websites from multiple devices with multiple screen sizes. This includes tablets and smartphones. So, it is important to consider that your website is mobile friendly. If your website is not mobile friendly:
  • You can either rebuild it in a responsive layout. This means your website will adjust to different screen widths and platforms.
  • You can build a dedicated mobile website. That would be a separate website optimized specifically for mobile users.
Search Engine Optimized (SEO)

There are hundreds of rules and guidelines for effective search engine optimization. However, this is not the place to cover them all. To start, follow these simple rules:

  • Include plenty of written content in HTML format. Limit using Flash, JavaScript or image-only objects for your navigational items.
  • Use your important keywords frequently and appropriately in your written content.
  • Leverage your links. Make them descriptive and use your keywords in the link text.
  • Add links to other websites.

Click here to contact me regarding this or any other blog post.
David Schuchman

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Monthly Meeting Job Seekers

Posted on by Adrienne Roman

The Breakfast Club NJ Presents: “The New Start Career Network: Helping Older, Long-term Unemployed Job Seekers”
Presented by Maria Heidkamp

Saturday September 10th at 8:00am ET

Synopsis:

Please share this with other groups you may be in. Join us on Meetup.com at: http://www.meetup.com/The-Breakfast-Club-NJ/ to RSVP for the meeting.

RSVP

Presentation:

The New Start Career Network: Helping Older, Long-term Unemployed Job Seekers

Maria Heidkamp, director of the New Start Career Network at Rutgers University, will discuss the recently launched effort to help older (45+), long-term unemployed job seekers in New Jersey, including lessons learned to date and plans for the future.

About the Speaker:
Maria Heidkamp

Maria Heidkamp201609crop

Maria Heidkamp is currently directing the New Start Career Network, which was launched in late 2015 to help older, long-term unemployed job seekers in New Jersey. Before joining the Heldrich Center, Ms. Heidkamp worked overseas for the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Agency for International Development as director of the Labor Market Transition Project in Hungary and served as a technical advisor on a range of workforce issues. She has worked as a policy analyst for the National Governors Association and served as director of the Wisconsin Labor-Management Council. She has a BA in government from Cornell University and an MA from NYU.

About the Meeting:

Networking begins at 7:30 am, meeting starts promptly at 8:00 am.

There is a $10 fee at the door to cover the cost of the room.

Be sure to tell your friends and bring them along. Be a part of our growing network of Job Seekers, Hiring Managers, Recruiters, Career Coaches, and people who want to be able to help themselves and each other.

Event Location:

Days Hotel Conference Center

195 Rt. 18 South, East Brunswick, NJ 08816

732-828-6900

Meeting Format:

7:30 to 8:00 – Registration & Open Networking

8:00 to 8:15 – Welcome and housekeeping

8:15 to 9:15 – Presentation by the guest speaker – Limited to 60 minutes

9:15 to 10:15 – Elevator Pitch – 30 Seconds about yourself, who you are, what you are looking for, target companies (3-4), how we can help you, how you can help others. Follow the rule of the Three B’s of Public Speaking: Be informative; Be brief; Be seated.

10:15 until you choose to leave – Open Networking, follow up with people you are interested in meeting following their elevator pitch, exchange business cards, peruse the library, arrange follow up meetings, etc.

The Breakfast Club NJ – 10 Points for Good Member Citizenship

1) Attend meetings regularly to keep group strong and help pay back to others (meeting logistics on our website www.thebreakfastclubnj.com)

2) Keep anti-virus on your machine up to date and run scan regularly

3) Review messages and if request for assistance please help whenever possible

4) Once you have received your invitation and joined our linked in group, connect to other members directly(questions see Gerry Peyton -gpeyton@ptd.net)

5) Join groups Facebook group, Google +, and connect to other members directly (questions see Adrienne Roman – adrienne1204@optonline.net)

6) Join groups twitter account (questions see George Pace – keeppace@gmail.com)

7) If you run across someone in transition invite them to join our group and sponsor them through process (details on our website www.thebreakfastclubnj.com)

8) Sunday mornings listen to our radio show, “Your Career Is Calling”, at 8am ET either on radio at 107.7 or via internet 24/7 live or on demand at www.1077thebronc.com (as this is a call in show your calls help make it successful)

9) If you are in transition put your elevator pitch in writing to group, ask for help with job search issues or connecting to people at target companies, regularly post job opportunities (from email you joined the group – send email to thebreakfastclubnj@yahoogroups.com)

10) Help fellow members whenever possible

  1. Attend meetings regularly to keep group strong and help pay back to others (meeting logistics on our website www.thebreakfastclubnj.com)
  2. Keep anti-virus on your machine up to date and run scan regularly
  3. Review messages and if request for assistance please help whenever possible
  4. Once you have received your invitation and joined our linked in group, connect to other members directly(questions see Gerry Peyton -gpeyton@ptd.net)
  5. Join groups Facebook group and connect to other members directly (questions see Adrienne Roman – adrienne1204@optonline.net)
  6. Join groups twitter account (questions see George Pace – keeppace@gmail.com)
  7. If you run across someone in transition invite them to join our group and sponsor them through process (details on our website www.thebreakfastclubnj.com)
  8. Sunday mornings listen to our radio show, “Your Career Is Calling”, at 8am ET either on radio at 107.7 or via internet 24/7 live or on demand at www.1077thebronc.com (as this is a call in show your calls help make it successful)
  9. If you are in transition put your elevator pitch in writing to group, ask for help with job search issues or connecting to people at target companies, regularly post job opportunities (from email you joined the group – send email to thebreakfastclubnj@yahoogroups.com)
  10. Help fellow members whenever possible

We look forward to seeing everyone let’s make this a great meeting for our members that are in transition and welcome those that have landed

RSVP

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How to Work as a Consultant

Posted on by Adam Kovitz

When you become a consultant, you may be abandoning predictability, a normal routine, interaction with coworkers and the safety of a regular job. Additionally, you may be venturing out on your own for the first time, and into unknown territory.

In my last post, I discussed, “Why Work as a Consultant”. This post is the continuation of the discussion. Now that you are committed to work as a consultant, let’s consider some of the things you need to do to begin to work as a consultant.
Do You Need to Create a Legal Company to be a Consultant?
You do not typically need to form a legal company (e.g. LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp, etc.). Consultants who choose to form a company usually chose an LLC (Limited Liability Company) because of its simple income tax reporting. An LLC does not require you to file an additional income tax return for the entity. Your corporate income is reported on ‘Schedule C’ of your personal income tax return. In addition, you will likely be eligible to deduct some of your corporate expenses from your personal income tax return. However, you should discuss this with a tax accountant for more information on this.

Forming an LLC is a legal, state-registered business entity. Working under a LLC may provide you some limited liability protection. However, you should discuss this with an attorney.

The cost to form an LLC will be about: $50-600 to start, depending on how you proceed. Many states require the LLC to file an annual registration, which costs $50 in NJ.

What if Client Requires Working via a Corp?
Sometimes your client will only hire a consultant via another business entity. When that happens, you have several options in order to accept the contract:

  • Find a consulting company to hire you – There are many such companies. When doing so, be assertive in negotiating the rate to be as favorable to you as possible. Often, a consulting company will take a large percentage of your hourly rate (e.g. 50% or more). They justify this since they also perform the recruiting. Since you are bringing the position to them and they primarily have only an administrative expense, you may be able to negotiate keeping are larger portion of the contracted rate.
  • Find a colleague or friend who owns an LLC or other corporation to hire you – In this case, you will be an employee of the colleague’s corporation. The colleague’s corporation will contract with your client. You colleague’s corporation will have administrative tasks related to employing you, so you should expect to give up some of your rate to them.
  • Engage with a “split-placement” company – A “split-placement” company is a business entity that employs independent consultants who need to work through a parent company. They usually do not perform recruiting, so the percentage of the rate they take is lower than working with a consulting company. In some cases, they allow the contractor to buy insurance and contribute to a retirement account. Examples of some “split-placement” companies are:
    • Top Echelon
    • NPAWorldwide
    • Fee Trader
  • Form your own LLC:
    • This takes about 2-4 weeks.
    • You can do this on your own, you can hire an attorney to set up the LLC for, or you can hire an online specialty company such as LegalZoom.com, Inc. or The Company Corporation to set up the LLC for you.
    • The cost will be about $50-600 to set up an LLC.

How to Become a Consultant
The first thing you need to do to accept working as a consultant is to say (out loud), “I am a consultant.” Next, you will need to do these few things:

  • Identify the niche in which you have knowledge, experience and support. Consultants that promote themselves as working primarily in a specific market sector or industry, or with a specific set of skills are often more successful than a generalist. That’s because the client will pay for specific expertise over someone who is a jack-of-all-trades.
  • Once you choose your working niche, research your target market. Understand the concerns, challenges and issues that your clients may have. Then, build your brand around how you solve those issues.
  • Alert & manage your professional network. When you are employed, you have a supervisor or co-workers with whom you can discuss your challenges or solution approach. When you are an independent consultant, your professional network includes the professionals that can provide that kind of support to you.
  • Develop a business plan. A business plan is a written description of your business goals. It is a document that describes what you plan to do and how you plan to do it.
  • Now that you are a Consultant, you must promote yourself and your brand;
    • Name & create your company.
    • Register your website address; and create a website. It’s very important to be found online!
    • Define your service offerings & pricing.
    • Acquire any needed professional licensing & certificates.
  • Don’t do this alone. Get advice from:
    • Accountant and lawyer: Make sure you set up your business properly (legally), and ensure you take advantage of all available tax incentives.
    • Your colleagues, friends know you well and will also give you advice.
    • SCORE, Small Business Association. This organization provides free and low-cost advice to new business owners.
  • Update your LinkedIn Profile, as well as your profiles on other social media platforms. Make sure that other professionals can find you.
Getting Clients
Key to being successful as a consultant is to have clients. They are your primary source of revenue. Here are some steps you can take to build your client base:

  • Write a Newsletter and/or Blog – Writing is an effective means of communication. Newsletters and blogs represent a terrific advertising media for a consultant to sell his or her services. In addition, the general perception is that if you write often, you must be an expert.
  • Teaching and Public Speaking – Giving presentations, in a classroom or at an event, is another excellent way to find new clients and earn a reputation for having an expertise. Investigate business groups, libraries, adult education programs, professional association and join chambers of commerce. These are all terrific platforms for promoting yourself and your business to a targeted audience.
  • Ask for Referrals – An often overlooked means for generating business is to inform people you already know about your consulting business and offering, and ask them to introduce you to some of their professional contacts. Introductions to their colleagues, friends or business associates are powerful. People prefer receiving a referral for an expect instead of looking on their own.
  • Advertise – Advertising can be very expensive. Strategic advertising may yield positive results, such as the media that your prospective clients read. This could be industry journals and social media sites.

Becoming a consultant is a personal decision. Additionally, becoming a consultant can seem daunting at first. With a little initiative, preparation and hard work, you can become successful working as a consultant. And, you may enjoy it as an alternative to working as a full-time employee.

Click here to contact me regarding this or any other blog post.
David Schuchman

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Why Bother with a Thank-You Letter?

Posted on by Adam Kovitz

The answer is a resounding yes. Many years ago, in the pre-e-mail era, I snail-mailed my thank-you letter after an interview and was told later by the director of human resources that my thank-you letter was the decisive factor in the company’s offering me the job. As a career coach, I frequently guide people through […]

The post Why Bother with a Thank-You Letter? appeared first on Landing Expert Career Coaching.

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Why Work as a Consultant

Posted on by Adam Kovitz

A consultant is a professional who works under a fixed contract to complete a specific project, task or assignment. Typically, a consultant is an expert or an experienced professional in a specific field, has a wide knowledge of the subject matter and required skills, and provides a service or expert advice to others – professionally.

If you have been unemployed for a while, you may want to consider working as a consultant as an alternative to working as an employee.
Some Differences between an Employee and Consulting Working Arrangement
There’s a lot to think about before deciding whether the life of an independent contractor would suit you. Here are some important points to consider:
  • An employee typically receives a benefits package as part of the offered compensation. This may include paid time off, retirement savings contributions and subsidized medical, dental and life insurance.
    • As a consultant, you do not usually get employer-paid benefits.
  • When employed, your employer pays ½ of the cost for social security and Medicare employment taxes – 7.65% (as of 2016) of gross income.
    • A consultant, if self-employed, pays the full employment taxes – all 15.3% of gross income.
  • Employees are paid via a paycheck. The employer reports your year-end income via a form W2.
    • A consultant, when not employed by a representative company, must send an invoice to the client. The client reports your year-end income via a form 1099-Misc.
  • As an employee, you have limited income tax deductions related to your work expenses.
    • As a consultant, you may have available income tax deductions related to technology equipment, home-office space, travel for work and others. See an accountant to learn what may be available to you.
Employer’s Benefits to Hiring a Consultant over an Employee
Employers can reap some rewards by contracting with independent contractors/consultants instead of hiring new employees. Among those are:
  • Easier to hire / Easier to fire – The hiring and termination of a contract consultant usually requires less documentation. There is no employment on-boarding process. And, there is no documentation or continual performance tracking needed to justify a termination.
  • No long term commitment – Employers contract for a consultant for a fixed period of time. Then, release the consultant at the end of the contract term or when the work assignment is completed.
  • Objective new team member – Having an outsider sharing their view of the employer’s current state of business may offer new ideas on how to achieve growth and improve overall efficiency.
  • Skills the employed team doesn’t have – Hiring a consultant with needed skills is more time efficient than training employees.
  • Saves money – Hiring a consultant means the employer does not have to pay for recruitment fees, benefits, time off, training and the cost associated with employee retention and turnover. Consultants are often hired to tackle a particular project within a specific time frame. At project completion, the consultant departs and the costs stop.
Your Benefits to Working as a Consultant
While some job seekers tend to shy away from consulting, there are benefits to consulting that make it, in some ways, a preferable alternative. Here are benefits of working as a consultant:
  • Fill resume gap – Job seekers with a large employment gap may be passed by for an employment opportunity. While this practice is illegal in most states, it is known to exist. Working on a consulting assignment can mitigate any unemployment bias.
  • Usually paid more than the employees – On an hourly basis, a consultant often earns more than as an employee. That compensates for the other compensation benefits an employee may receive. And, consultants are also paid a premium for their expertise.
  • Current Position on LinkedIn – LinkedIn requires the listing of a current position in order to attain its 100% complete profile. The 100% complete profile is needed to improve your profile’s positioning in a LinkedIn search result. Use your profession as a consultant to be your current position on LinkedIn, even if you are not presently on a contract.
  • Variety – You can develop and demonstrate varied experience on your resume. As a consultant, you may be able to provide your professional expertise in a variety of companies and industries that you have not worked, and may not access to when seeking full-time empoyment.
  • Freedom and flexibility– Choose who, when and where to work, when to take holidays & other PTO.
  • Contract-to-Hire opportunities are only available to those on a contract. While on a current contract, the position may be converted to a full-time position. As a consultant, you are likely to be the preferred candidate to fill that position.
Pros and Cons to being a Consultant
The opportunity to be a consultant is available in almost any profession and for almost any role or job function. When deciding this path for yourself, you should consider the pros and cons to help in your decision process. Here are some points to consider to determine if being a consultant is right for you:
  • Some people are concerned that they will not be treated as well as the other employees. As an example, it may be the case that consultants will not be invited to company outings.
    • As a consultant, you may actually be treated better than employees. Often, your expected expertise and experience will hold you in a higher regard, and you can receive better working accommodations.
  • You might be unhappy in the position or how you are treated.
    • Of course, you can be unhappy in any job. If that is that case with a consulting assignment, take satisfaction that you will likely move on at the conclusion of the assignment.
  • There are unpaid admin tasks you must perform, such as billing & invoicing, documenting your expenses and preparing your quarterly income tax returns.
    • Consultants usually earn larger hourly rates which compensate for your required administrative tasks.
  • You won’t be given benefits as part of your compensation.
    • Consultants usually earn larger hourly rates which compensate for your cost of acquiring benefits. If the alternative to consulting is waiting for an employed opportunity, then you will pay for the benefits from your savings.
  • The contract may only be short term. Yet you need long term income.
    • Don’t dismiss a consulting contract due to its possible short term. Contracts terms are often extended. Sometimes, they are converted into an employed position. In terms of earning potential, a 6 month contract billing at $50/hour earns about $50,000 (gross income).
In this post, we discussed some points to help you understand how you may benefit to work as a consultant as an alternative to working as a full-time employee, and to help you decide if it’s right for you. In our next post, we will discuss the steps you need to take to understand “How to Work as a Consultant”.

Click here to contact me regarding this or any other blog post,
David Schuchman

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Posted in Member Contributions Tagged with: ,

Monthly Meeting

Posted on by Adrienne Roman

The Breakfast Club NJ Presents: “a Discussion Panel: Being in Transition Multiple Times” moderated by George Pace

Saturday August 13 at 8:00am ET

Synopsis:

Please share this with other groups you may be in. Join us on Meetup.com at: http://www.meetup.com/The-Breakfast-Club-NJ/ to RSVP for the meeting.

RSVP

Presentation: a Discussion Panel: Being in Transition Multiple Times”

In this day and age of constant technological change and increased competition, the likelihood of staying with a single employer throughout your career is highly unlikely. It is now likely that you will find yourself in transition more than one time.

So what can you do to prepare for such an impactful event? This month the Breakfast Club will hold its 2nd Panel Format that will provide a variety of “real life” transition viewpoints which include:
• Changes to their career approach based on multiple transitions
• The financial impact
• Skills they acquired – or needed to acquire.
• What advice/help did they get from their network
• “Best practices” based on previous experiences (What worked / what didn’t)
Our Moderator: George Pace, George is a Director / Enterprise Architect at Prudential Financial Services where he is currently focusing on Cloud and DevOps Architecture. In his spare time helps people leverage the power of Social Media.

Bios

Our Moderator:
George Pace

George_pace_upd2

George is a Director / Enterprise Architect at Prudential Financial Services where he is currently focusing on Cloud and DevOps Architecture. In his spare time helps people leverage the power of Social Media.

 

About the panelists:

Haresh Keswani

Harish_Keswani_upd2

Haresh is a Business Technology professional focused on commercial transformation leveraging digital themes. He offers quantifiable accomplishments based on extensive business process transformation service strategy, design, program management, implementation and operations for various commercial and support functions delivering next generation Portfolio of programs and projects. This includes performing gap analysis on commercial function processes local and global, driving SMAC (social, mobile, analytics and cloud) stack initiatives, multi-channel service capabilities, customer experience process maps and driving customer insights. His extensive business transformation experience for commercial and support services portfolio, program and project management in areas of business continuity, disaster recovery, fiscal management and people management in strong matrix environment. His industry and consulting experience with Pfizer, Novartis, Johnson and Johnson, GSK and GE is a huge asset to any organization. Throughout his career, he has delivered high impact and visibility business transformation service initiatives as per business case with significant additional revenue increasing Share of Wallet, Net Promoter Score and operating cost reduction and thereby increasing ROI. His PMP, CSM, ITIL and Six Sigma certifications enables him to solve business problems differently and leverage data for decision making.

Richard Notarnicola

Richard_Notarnicola_upd2

Richard has over 25 years of experience in the enhanced messaging industry. He started with Xpedite Systems in 1989, where he played an integral role in the company’s success, and has held various senior IT and Operations roles with other messaging and conferencing companies. Diverse background includes successful start-ups and Fortune 500 companies across 3 different countries: USA, Ireland and Brazil. Richard holds a BS in Industrial Management from Purdue University.
 

Benny A. Recine

Benny_Recine_upd2

Benny is an active leader in the job seeker support community. He is the current President of The Career Support Group at St. Gregory the Great in Hamilton, NJ and a board member of The Breakfast Club of New Jersey in East Brunswick, NJ. Benny is a Project Manager and Director of Strategic Initiatives with Sutherland Global Services. Benny started on Monday April 25, 2016 and is currently working on projects that include status reports to the VP and CTO level, a conversion from to a cloud-based project management tool for the technology group and an IT database project for the technology group. Benny has been a project manager for over 20 years and a certified PMP for over 10. Benny has also worked in the regulatory software arena for almost 10 years and is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS). Benny is also Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certified, In addition to acting as a project manager, he has worked as a program manager and helped develop a project management office at former companies.

About the Meeting:

Networking begins at 7:30 am, meeting starts promptly at 8:00 am.

There is a $10 fee at the door to cover the cost of the room.

Be sure to tell your friends and bring them along. Be a part of our growing network of Job Seekers, Hiring Managers, Recruiters, Career Coaches, and people who want to be able to help themselves and each other.

Event Location:

Days Hotel Conference Center

195 Rt. 18 South, East Brunswick, NJ 08816

732-828-6900

Meeting Format:

7:30 to 8:00 – Registration & Open Networking

8:00 to 8:15 – Welcome and housekeeping

8:15 to 9:15 – Presentation by the guest speaker – Limited to 60 minutes

9:15 to 10:15 – Elevator Pitch – 30 Seconds about yourself, who you are, what you are looking for, target companies (3-4), how we can help you, how you can help others. Follow the rule of the Three B’s of Public Speaking: Be informative; Be brief; Be seated.

10:15 until you choose to leave – Open Networking, follow up with people you are interested in meeting following their elevator pitch, exchange business cards, peruse the library, arrange follow up meetings, etc.

The Breakfast Club NJ – 10 Points for Good Member Citizenship

1) Attend meetings regularly to keep group strong and help pay back to others (meeting logistics on our website www.thebreakfastclubnj.com)

2) Keep anti-virus on your machine up to date and run scan regularly

3) Review messages and if request for assistance please help whenever possible

4) Once you have received your invitation and joined our linked in group, connect to other members directly(questions see Gerry Peyton -gpeyton@ptd.net)

5) Join groups Facebook group, Google +, and connect to other members directly (questions see Adrienne Roman – adrienne1204@optonline.net)

6) Join groups twitter account (questions see George Pace – keeppace@gmail.com)

7) If you run across someone in transition invite them to join our group and sponsor them through process (details on our website www.thebreakfastclubnj.com)

8) Sunday mornings listen to our radio show, “Your Career Is Calling”, at 8am ET either on radio at 107.7 or via internet 24/7 live or on demand at www.1077thebronc.com (as this is a call in show your calls help make it successful)

9) If you are in transition put your elevator pitch in writing to group, ask for help with job search issues or connecting to people at target companies, regularly post job opportunities (from email you joined the group – send email to thebreakfastclubnj@yahoogroups.com)

10) Help fellow members whenever possible

  1. Attend meetings regularly to keep group strong and help pay back to others (meeting logistics on our website www.thebreakfastclubnj.com)
  2. Keep anti-virus on your machine up to date and run scan regularly
  3. Review messages and if request for assistance please help whenever possible
  4. Once you have received your invitation and joined our linked in group, connect to other members directly(questions see Gerry Peyton -gpeyton@ptd.net)
  5. Join groups Facebook group and connect to other members directly (questions see Adrienne Roman – adrienne1204@optonline.net)
  6. Join groups twitter account (questions see George Pace – keeppace@gmail.com)
  7. If you run across someone in transition invite them to join our group and sponsor them through process (details on our website www.thebreakfastclubnj.com)
  8. Sunday mornings listen to our radio show, “Your Career Is Calling”, at 8am ET either on radio at 107.7 or via internet 24/7 live or on demand at www.1077thebronc.com (as this is a call in show your calls help make it successful)
  9. If you are in transition put your elevator pitch in writing to group, ask for help with job search issues or connecting to people at target companies, regularly post job opportunities (from email you joined the group – send email to thebreakfastclubnj@yahoogroups.com)
  10. Help fellow members whenever possible

We look forward to seeing everyone let’s make this a great meeting for our members that are in transition and welcome those that have landed

RSVP

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