Jim Thomason's "The Business of People"

While I can't release details yet, I will be coming out of transition November 26th working as a Regional Director of Human Resources for a company in Indianapolis.  I signed a contingent offer letter last week and am awaiting the criminal background check and reference checks to be completed and the contingency to be removed from the offer. I want to thank each and every one of you for your calls and notes of encouragement, your prayers, and your friendship.  I assume that everyone who offered to be a reference for me will follow through with a positive reference, and I know my own clean background, so this should be over for me soon.  Vonnie and I will take a much-delayed 30th anniversary cruise in early November and then come back preparing for what comes next. This job lead came from a friend whose career I had helped a few years ago.  Almost every good lead I had came from someone I had helped at some point.  This was instructive for me and I pass it al...

One of the most responsible things the family's breadwinner can do is to protect his or her family through life insurance.  Its easy while you work for a company who offers life insurance; it usually is 100% company-paid and automatic when you come on the payroll.  It is also easy when you leave one job and start another as the successor insurance usually becomes effective before the old insurance expires.  But what about when you are in transition, and especially if you are trying to preserve cash?  Here's what I've learned. When you leave your job for whatever reason you have the opportunity to "port" your life insurance, that is to pay age-rated premiums and convert your group coverage to a personal policy.  You usually have 30 days to do that and your HR or Benefits department can provide you with the paperwork, or you can call the life insurance carrier yourself.  If you die during the 30 day "conversion period" after your termination date then yo...

Note: This series is written for others who are in career transition, either from the same company I left or elsewhere. Having been fortunate to have transitional benefits, and a great network of HR pros,  these posts are written for the benefit of those who don't have as much time or the good advice available to me.   __________ Although this information is well-known in HR circles and intuitive to some, for others it may be news. This is especially true if, like me, you haven't been on the job market in years if ever.  I have worked since I was 14 (farm kid) and have been recruited to every job I've ever gotten.  Being on the offensive, actively looking for a job, is a totally new experience at age 52. If you are similarly uninitiated here are some statistics about how people are finding jobs in this economy. Job Boards - Only 10 - 15% of job seekers land a job off an Internet job board.  This is disproportionate to the percentage of time people spen...