Wednesday February 8, 2012
When I first graduated from college and started job hunting, I had the lucky opportunity to be offered three positions at the same time at a magazine, book publishing and daily newspaper. (After four months of pounding the pavements, that is.) It was a perfect opportunity to compare salaries and job duties, and I ended up accepting the high paying job of the three. Wages were only one factor in my decision, but they certainly were a significant one.
When looking for high paying jobs, you can start generally by researching the average salaries for each position and the differences in your region. But ultimately, the salary you earn will come down to the specifics of the employer, how well you negotiate and the current economy climate. Once you've accepted that first wage, you set the bar for all future raises and promotions.
Have you found it harder to locate high paying jobs in the wake of the recession? Certainly, employers seem to be looking for a bargain, but you'd hope that experience and skills still can command a premium. Please share your experiences.
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Friday February 3, 2012
When you're first choosing child care for your baby, it's pretty overwhelming. Do you want a daycare center? An in-home daycare? Or can you afford a professional nanny? The variety of options is bewildering.
Two lower cost alternatives are a live-in nanny or an au pair. You need to have enough space in your home to provide a private room and living space for your child care provider. You give up some privacy, but you can benefit from the convenience of a live-in nanny who can babysit the occasional evening.
Ultimately, the quality of child care your offspring receives comes down to the individual in question. If your live-in nanny or daycare teacher is loving, responsive and attuned to your child's needs, your child will thrive. Our child care providers always take great pains to ease separation anxiety and help with transitions. We definitely count ourselves lucky.
What's your take on the child care question?
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Tuesday January 31, 2012
You may have hear the term alternative work, and wondered, "what does that mean?" We're not talking about blasting Nirvana in your office, or painting your nails black and piercing a few body parts.
Alternative work arrangements are simply flexible work programs that allow you to more easily balance your life and career responsibilities. You may work out an alternative work schedule on a casual basis with your boss, such as working from home when your kids are sick or to supervise a new nanny. Or you may have an employer with a full menu of alternative work options from which to choose.
The common thread is that these alternative work arrangements depart from the traditional 9-to-5 schedule. If you've adopted an alternate work schedule, please share your experience, and offer some advice to others.
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Monday January 30, 2012
The first time I gave birth, my husband took a few days' leave to spend with me and our newborn. At the time, I worked for a company that gave six weeks' paid maternity leave and my parents both came to help me recover from birth. So we got by with him taking just a few days' vacation here and there, and coming home early to bond with the baby when he could. He had just started the job four months earlier, and had very little accumulated leave.
By the time my paid leave ended, and I took another four months unpaid, our daughter had been accepted into our top choice daycare, and we had to pay for the spot whether or not we used it. So we jumped into life as a dual working parent family. In retrospect, I think my husband would have enjoyed a block of one-on-one time with our new baby, even if it didn't save us any money on child care.
For my second baby, my husband did use a chunk of accumulated vacation time because she was in the neonatal intensive care unit and we were shuttling back and forth between the hospital, home and our then-toddler. We needed all the extra hands we could get. That was certainly a situation we didn't anticipate, but felt fortunate to have paid leave to accommodate the new baby's needs.
In short, you can make plans for paternity leave, but you can't anticipate everything. So it helps to understand the paternity leave laws and the options that are available to new fathers in your state and at your employer. You might end up patching together disability leave, unpaid FMLA leave, sick time and vacation days. But at least it's time with your new baby!
If you're a dad, did you take paternity leave with your new child? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.
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