10 great jobs for work-life balance

The journey to find the perfect job offering a balanced work-life schedule is no easy feat.
According to the American Institute of Stress, job stress is by the far the top source of stress for American adults. With the increased stress levels in the workplace, work-life balance has decreased, leaving employees reporting an average work-life balance satisfaction rating of 3.5 in 2009, 3.4 in 2012, and 3.2 in 2015 -- making it more important than ever to find the perfect harmony in your career.

Companies hiring in April

Check out these 20 companies hiring this month.

Spring is a time of rejuvenation and rebirth � a perfect time to start up a new career. For those of you looking to embark down a new career path, here are 20 companies hiring this April.
1. Acadia Healthcare
Industry: Behavioral health
Job titles: Clinical coordinator, licensed vocational nurse/licensed practical nurse, registered nurse, therapist, physician, mental health technician, CNA, dietary manager, substance abuse counselor
Location: Nationwide
2. Aerotek
Industry: General staffing
Sample job titles: Electrical engineer, maintenance supervisor, machine operator, data entry
Location: Nationwide
3. City of Atlanta
Industry: Government
Sample job titles: Civil engineer, electrician supervisor, watershed plant officer, business analyst, traffic service technician
Location: Atlanta
4. Core-Mark
Industry: Distribution, logistics and marketing
Sample job titles: Class A delivery driver, shuttle driver, warehouse selector, merchandiser, sales development representative, warehouse supervisor, transportation supervisor, territory manager
Location: Nationwide
5. Elwood Staffing
Industry: Staffing and recruiting
Sample job titles: Paralegal, industrial engineer, cell technician, tooling/maintenance supervisor, machine builder, materials supervisor
Location: Nationwide
6. Extra Space Storage
Industry: Retail
Sample job titles: Store manager, assistant store manager, district manager
Location: Nationwide
7. Fast Switch
Industry: Information technology
Sample job titles: Senior Cisco engineer, Java developer, project manager, Oracle DBA
Location: Ohio, California, Texas, Georgia
8. Floor & Decor
Industry: Retail flooring
Sample job titles: Warehouse specialist, tile specialist, cashier, retail sales associate, department manager
Location: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, Texas, Arizona
9. Guckenheimer
Industry: Hospitality and food service
Sample job titles: Chef, sous chef, exhibition-specialty cook (specializing in Indian and Asian cuisine), grill cook, cook, pantry production, catering production, catering supervisor, cashier, delivery attendant, server/foodservice worker, dishwasher/utility, executive chef, food service manager
Location: Nationwide
10. Kforce Technology / Kforce Finance & Accounting
Industry: IT and accounting staffing
Sample job titles: Application developer, project manager, business analyst, financial analyst, accountant, compliance analyst, tax manager, AP/AR specialist
Location: Nationwide
11. Parkland Health
Industry: Health care
Sample job titles: Registered nurse, operating room surgical technician
Location: Dallas, Garland, Irving and Grand Prairie, Texas
12. Presence Health
Industry: Health care
Sample job titles: Coder, nurse practitioner, director of nursing
Location: Chicago
13. Scholastic
Industry: Publishing
Sample job titles: CDL driver, fork lift operator, distribution center supervisor, account executive, analyst, marketing operations support and reporting analyst, delivery driver
Location: Nationwide
14. Securamerica
Industry: Security
Sample job titles: Controller, security officer, recruiter, national account executive, sales operations manager
Location: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles
15. Senior Care Centers
Industry: Long term health care
Sample job titles: Charge nurse, LVN, RN, certified nursing aide, director of nursing, people strategy representative
Location: Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Houston, Texas
16. Southwest Key Programs
Industry: Behavioral health
Sample job titles: Clinician, case manager, youth care worker, teacher
Location: Texas, Arizona
17. ThyssenKrupp
Industry: Manufacturing/sales
Sample job titles: Quality supervisor, motorsports product engineer, product engineer � acquisition, quality engineer, operations manager � modernization, district sales manager, national account manager, sales trainee
Location: California, Hawaii, Oregon, Michigan, Florida, New York, Tennessee, Utah, Indiana, Washington, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas
18. Titan Machinery
Industry: Machinery
Sample job titles: Outside sales representative � rental, field marketer � outside sales, wholegoods specialist, diesel service technician, service foreman, service writer, store manager, human resources coordinator, rental support, parts counter, rental counter
Location: North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Colorado, Arizona, Maryland, Montana
19. TMX Finance
Industry: Financial services
Sample job titles: Call center representative, store manager, district manager, general manager, customer service representative, bilingual customer service representative
Location: Nationwide
20. TreeHouse Foods
Industry: Consumer packaged goods
Sample job titles: QA manager, systems and network administrator, food scientist, senior engineer, manufacturing mechanic, category manager, financial analyst, safety manager, plant manager, production worker, material planner, production supervisor, IT manager, sales executive, sales analyst, business development manager
Location: Illinois, Nebraska, Missouri, Wisconsin, California, Georgia, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, South Carolina, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Massachusetts

The right way to find the right job

College graduation season is upon us, and there's no shortage of advice columnists offering tips to recent college grads on how to land that first, full-time job. Some discuss what today's employers are looking for�candidates who are resourceful, intuitive, self-starting and sincere (like that's a surprise)�while others suggest strategies for devising eye-catching resumes.
This isn't one of those columns. My financial services colleagues and I actually had a preference for hiring recent grads for three good reasons:
They travel light. Although most will have worked part-time while in college and, ideally, completed an internship that coincided with their studies and professional aspirations, recent grads come with relatively little baggage. In other words, there aren't a lot of bad habits to break or attitudes to change.
They're malleable. Because they travel light and are usually pretty enthusiastic about their first full-time gig, recent grads are more easily trained.
They know more than we do. No matter how with it we hirers believe we are, recent grads are also that much more comfortable�often to the point of fearlessness�with technology. Consequently, we learned as much from them as they from us.
Contrary to what you might believe or hope, the hiring process isn't akin to speed dating. In fact, although many of us feel good about the gut decisions we often make on the fly, I've learned the hard way that first impressions aren't always correct. That's why God invented second and third interviews.
So here's how to get started.
Your resume should coincide with the position you seek or the posting to which you are responding. Not only should you not embellish it, but you should absolutely never misstate any of your qualifications, experiences or academic background. You never know who's going to pick up the phone to check on these.
Also, take care to choose your references wisely�in particular, those who can speak to the qualifications you need for the position you have in mind�and make certain they're prepared for the call. I can't tell you how many times I've contacted an unprepared or-, worse- , a reference who didn't even know that his or her name was given..., to the detriment of the applicant.
Your cover letter is equally important. Use it to make a brief and respectful case for your favorable consideration while at the same time a glimpse of your personality. Believe me, it makes a difference to know that as focused and determined as you may be, you don't take yourself more seriously than you should.
Now, suppose that your resume and cover letter do what they're supposed to do: attract interest. It's time to prepare for the first hurdle: the dreaded phone screen. Sure, we're trying to weed out the obvious bad fits crazies and those who are inexplicably incapable of advocating for themselves. But we're also looking for those who've taken the time do the research into what we do, how we do it, and are able to persuasively articulate how they believe they can help, (if only we would agree to meet them).
You see, the singular objective for the phone screen is to score an in-person interview. It's where you'll have as much of an opportunity to impress as you will to assess. I'll discuss that in a minute. In the Meantime, keep these three things in mind.
Dress appropriately. Even if they say they're business casual, endure the ridicule and crank it up a notch to show respect.
Speak knowledgably and confidently on the subjects you know. Never attempt to bluff your way through the things you don't know. The odds are against you on that one.
Be prepared to ask questions. Many interviewers close by asking if the candidate has any questions he or she would like to ask. "Nope" is not a good answer. In fact, you should look at that question as an ideal opportunity to showcase the initiative you took by researching the organization in advance of your meeting.
Ask for the timeline. The close of the interview is also a good time to ask for a sense for their decision-making process and for permission to follow up at a later date.
Two more things to do as you prepare for your audition.
Clean up your online act. So much information is so readily available these days that it would be a mistake to believe that the things you wouldn't want your mother to see won't end up on a prospective employer's monitor.
Personal financial management counts. Although many states have enacted or are contemplating legislation that limits the use of credit scores and credit bureau reports in the hiring process, there are exceptions. My own industry, for example, is one of those because our positions are often directly or indirectly tied to financial transactions.
And if the opportunity you seek is one that requires a credit check as part of the hiring process, know these three things:
First, under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), no employer is permitted to order your credit report without your written consent.
Second, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the three principal credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) are required to provide you with a free credit report, annually. It would be agood idea to know what yours says before you're asked about it.
Third, if there are items on your report that concern you, I suggest you discuss these forthrightly when you're asked to grant that permission, because that's when it'll count�not before.
I've heard lots of stories about divorces, medical emergencies, student loan burdens and even past employment interruptions. Life happens, and. But as long your credit bureau report shows that you have or are working through your problems in a responsible manner, you shouldn't be overly concerned. On the other hand, betting that a chronic case of late payments and account closures won't come up isn't one a bet worth taking.
Finally, I said before that in-person interviews are opportunities for mutual assessment. In particular, there are three things to consider as you make your way through the process.
Is this the kind of work you want to do? Does it coincide with your education and interests? Will the tasks that you'll be asked to complete present enough of a challenging enough to keep you engaged?
How do you feel about the people and the work environment? In particular, what do you think of the person to whom you'll report? What about the people with whom you'll work? What's your sense of the environment: calm, busy, frenetic, pressure cooker?
Will these folks help you to become more tomorrow than you are today? Will they train and mentor you? Do they offer a reasonably attainable career path? Is there a continuing education reimbursement program? Will there be opportunities to explore other areas within the organization if you choose?
This last group of questions is the most important of them all. Not only does it represent the difference between a short-term job and, potentially, a lifelong career, but it also offers invaluable insight into how management views its employees�as individuals who are worthy of investment or commodities to plug and play.
The right kind of employer will want to do all they can to make your time there worthwhile�for both your sakes�not least because recruiting, onboarding, training and helping new hires to become productive is time-consuming and costly. So it follows that if your prospective employer is so inclined, you can also look forward to a compensation package that's both competitive and fair.

Article Source:  AOL

6 jobs in the legal marijuana industry you never knew existed

The legal marijuana industry in the U.S. has expanded quite a bit in recent years. Medical marijuana is now available in more than 20 states, and several have even legalized it for recreational use. An entirely new cluster of jobs have become available alongside this growth, and because the industry is so new, workers may or may not be familiar with all of their options. Jobs in the legal marijuana industry extend beyond growers and dispensary workers. Here are a few other new and less well-known job titles within the field.
1. Petitioners.
There are a lot of individuals who've helped encourage the expansion of the legal marijuana industry, and the work isn't over yet. In addition to legal marijuana lobbyists, who also work on the legislation side of things, some folks work as petitioners collecting signatures and acting as advocates. This could be a great option for folks who are passionate and knowledgeable about the cause.
2. Reviewers.
In states where marijuana is legal for recreational use, some folks are starting to find jobs working as reviewers. The process of reflecting on and writing about different strains is more complicated than most people think, as different products vary considerably and in a number of ways. These workers really need to know their stuff, and they should have solid writing skills as well.
3. Trimmers.
In order to prepare the plant for next steps, some maintenance is required � mainly the cutting away of leaves. The work can be a bit tedious, but while bud-trimmers need some training and expertise, they don't require nearly as much as other professionals in the field. Therefore, this is a great entry-level position for someone working to break into the industry.
4. Edible creators.
Working as an edible creator requires a lot of expertise. Also, states have different laws about how edibles need to be labeled and how they're regulated. But, for some folks, working to infuse marijuana into everything from soda to oatmeal to candy could be a dream come true.
5. Marijuana journalists.
Similar to reviewers, marijuana journalists work within the industry to publish articles on a wide variety of topics. In addition to talking about differences between the strains, they might also review dispensaries or talk about how the culture around legal marijuana is changing. In order to land one of these positions, one would need excellent writing skills and they should also have their finger on the pulse of their local industry.
6. Analytical chemist.
For serious scientists looking to work within the industry, a job as an analytical chemist could be perfect. These folks work in labs and test for potency, pesticides, heavy metals, etc. They help regulate products for consistency and safety. This is important and highly skilled work that must be done by a trained chemist.

Want more money? These are the job titles to target

What's in a name? It could be a significant amount of money. Earnest, an online lender, recently published a report analyzing various job titles and their corresponding salaries. While the actual day-to-day differences in responsibilities could be very little, these keyword variations translate potentially into a significant salary increase.
Adding "Lead" to Your Title
If you're determined to earn more money, adding a "lead" to your title is a worthwhile goal. The median difference in salary between those who are considered a "Lead Developer" and those who aren't, for example, is $23,000, according to Earnest's data. While this is a title that can require several years of experience and an impressive portfolio, it's a goal to work toward that could pay off very well in the long run.
Being Called a "Director"
A similar term, with similar earning potential: those being called directors enjoy a median salary difference of $21,000 from others with a similar function but a less senior title. If you're currently planning to negotiate a promotion or raise, consider the long-term potential of securing a better title that will then be leverage for a salary hike later on. It's tempting to always ask for more money, but sometimes a better title could be the smart move that leads to a bigger number in your next opportunity. (Although, of course, there's no reason not to try for both.)
If You're Considered a "Senior"
Don't expect a senior title if you're just a few years out of school. That said, it's worth bringing up a title change if you find yourself consistently in the mentorship role within the team to those with less experience or skill. With a median difference of $20,000, it's not to be sniffed at by any means.

What about those keywords that might not bring in as much money? If your title includes the terms "assistant," "associate," or "staff," it could be holding you back from earning more. "Assistant" positions can have a median negative difference of $10,000 in annual salary, while "staff" indicates that a person could be earning up to $15,000 less than someone with essentially the same role. These titles tend to describe graduate-level or junior employees, so if you find yourself still working under one of them but feel you have lots of valuable experience to offer, it might be time to discuss a change with your manager.

Article Source: [Read More...] Want more money? These are the job titles to target

How to start a freelance business and keep your day job: 10 Steps

A comprehensive guide to starting a successful side business before you make your startup dream a full-time reality.

You want to start a business. You need to start a business. But you're not quite ready to quit your job and take the plunge.
Don't feel bad--here's one reason you should feel that way.
Fortunately, there's a great alternative: starting your own business while keeping your day job.
The following is a guest post from Ryan Robinson, an entrepreneur and marketer who teaches people how to create meaningful self-employed careers. (His online courses "The Launch While Working Formula" and "Writing a Winning Freelance Proposal" can teach you how to start and grow your own business while working a full-time job.)

Here's Ryan:
Of all the side businesses you can effectively grow while keeping your day job, freelancing is one of the most feasible. At its core, you're essentially using your skills--the tasks and abilities you've already mastered--to take on contract work and augment your income. What's more, it's attractive for many reasons beyond just the money.
But, before getting started with your freelance business, you need to get very clear on why you want to freelance in the first place. Once you have your goals in mind, how you use your limited amount of time will greatly determine your level of success with freelancing.
1. Define Your Goals.
Without clearly defined, easily measurable goals, you're going to have a very difficult time getting to where you want to go.

• Is freelancing a path to just earning extra income on the side of your day job?
• Do you eventually want to become a full-time freelancer because of the lifestyle benefits of being your own boss?
• Are you looking to use freelancing as a steppingstone to eventually achieving a different goal entirely?

Regardless of what your ultimate goal is, you need to make it abundantly clear. Take the time to understand why you're considering starting a freelance business, and make sure it's the right move in your progression toward achieving your bigger-picture goal.
Let's say your bigger-picture goal is to become a fully self-employed freelancer. You'll set your own hours, decide whom you want to work with, and call all the shots in your business. Now, how do you get there?
You know that you'll need to get your freelance income up to a sustainable, healthy level that allows you to eventually quit your day job without stress about where your next paycheck is going to come from. Because I've quit my day job too early in the past, my personal rule is that I must reach a side income of at least 75 percent of what my salaried job pays me, before even considering quitting to pursue my side business full time.
Starting with your freelance income target, based on your living expenses, risk tolerance, and realistic expectations on how long your savings can sustain you, now you can back into a rough idea of how many clients you'll need (and what you'll have to charge them), before making it to the point where you'll be able to leave your day job to freelance full time.
2. Find a Profitable Niche.
Let's assume you're a graphic designer by trade, or you've at least been building your skills with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop in your free time. Clearly, there are a lot of competitors in your industry who will be willing to charge much lower rates than you, no matter what you do. There are people from all around the world with lower costs of living who will always be willing to accept lesser-paid gigs than you. Get over the idea of trying to compete on price as a freelancer, right now.
It's not worth racing other people to the bottom, especially when sites like Fiverr and Upwork already have countless options for low-priced freelancers. Side note: I recommend not ever listing your services on either of those sites, unless you absolutely need to (after striking out trying everything in this post).
By taking the time to find a profitable niche for your freelance business, you're actively seeking out an industry and type of client that value quality. When you're in a space that competes on quality, you'll completely change the ways that you sell your services. You'll be competing on value, not price.
Instead of taking any graphic design project that comes your way, choose to concentrate solely on infographic design for startup blogs, or e-book layouts for enterprise tech companies. Choose an area that genuinely interests you, and focus on becoming the best designer in that narrow space.
Once you've made yourself invaluable within your niche, you'll have a platform by which you can expand your freelance business in any direction you'd like.
3. Identify Your Target Clients.
Attracting the right types of clients for your freelance business is just as important as finding a profitable niche.
As you're getting started, it's fine to take a bit more of a shotgun approach to landing a few gigs. Make some initial assumptions about whom you want to work with and target them first. After working with a few of them, you'll develop a very clear sense of whether to continue pursuing similar clients.
In my freelance business, I've honed my target client profile over time to matching only two very specific types of businesses: high-growth tech startups and business influencers with well-established personal brands. The primary reasons I've narrowed the focus of my freelance business this far are because I work best with these types of (very similar) clients, and they run in similar circles that lead to frequent referrals. I'm building my reputation within my niche.
This is a difficult decision to make at first, because it means turning away a lot of business. However, the process of narrowing your target clients to those you work with best will help you achieve much better results in the long run. Once you have a few clients that are willing to advocate for you, the momentum will really pick up.
Going back to our focus of competing on value, not price, everything you do in regard to starting your freelance business--especially when you have a very limited amount of free time--needs to point back to your ability to deliver the highest-quality results for your clients. As one of my freelance idols, Paul Jarvis, so eloquently put it over on the CreativeLive blog, "make your clients so happy & successful that they become your sales force."
Your goal is to build your authority and eventually be seen as the go-to resource for a specific type of client. By appealing so well to a narrow (well-selected) niche, your target clients will have a very quick path to deciding that you're the best person to help them with their projects. This, above all else, is the path to charging premium rates without anyone batting an eye at the first prices you throw out.
To determine the best types of target clients for your freelance business, ask yourself these three questions:

• Which businesses will find my services useful?
• Which businesses can afford to pay the prices I'll need to charge, in order to get to my income goal?
• Who are the decision makers within these businesses, and what can I learn about their demographics and interests? Can I find a way to connect with them on a personal level?

My target clients--smaller startup teams and founders with personal brands--can instantly relate to me because of my personal affinity to startups. Because my portfolio work is directly applicable to what they do, they also start out with much more confidence that I'll be able to drive similar results for their business, too.
4. Set Strategic Prices for Your Services.
I've spoken a lot about setting the right prices for your freelance business. I even architected an infographic over on CreativeLive that walks you through the process of setting your freelance hourly rate.
From a pure numbers perspective, this calculator from MotiveApp is as good as it gets for determining what your hourly rate needs to be, in order to meet your income goals and expense levels. It's a great tool for double-checking that you're charging enough to afford the lifestyle you want to live, but I recommend determining your pricing strategy with a very different progression in mind. Remember, you need to price yourself on the basis of the value you deliver--not on the basis of what your competitors are charging.
Don't allow anyone else to dictate the terms by which you define your value. That's not what freelancing is about.
In this post on his blog, Neil Patel chronicles many of the lessons he learned while running an SEO consulting business. A lesson that stood out for me is that the more you charge, the less clients complain. Because Patel very astutely selected target clients that have big budgets, he knows that they're much more willing to spend money--in order to make that money back through investing in your services. Smaller clients, on the other hand, often don't have as much money to play with, and thus can't sustain much in terms of losses when projects don't deliver big returns.
There's no such thing as prices that are too high. Your prices may be too high (or too low) for the types of clients you're targeting, but if you do your homework when deciding whom to pitch your services to, you'll be selling exactly what your clients need--for a price they can justify.
For my freelance content marketing services, I write well-researched, in-depth blog content for my clients. Most of my content is in the range of 1,500 to 2,500 words per piece, and designed to rank well in organic search results, which is extremely valuable for most businesses. Because my work extends beyond just writing, and into strategic distribution and driving traffic after the content publishes, I add a lot more value for my clients than any other "writer" can bring to the table. Back when I decided to start a business, I knew that I wanted to target premium clients that would pay more for that extra value.
They're going to hire someone to help with their projects, so it's just a matter of showing them you're the right person to help. Price becomes a secondary concern, if they're already convinced that you're the best person for the job. It's business and they'll make it work, or it wasn't meant to be.
5. Build a High-Quality Portfolio Website.
Because I'm such a huge advocate of creating a powerful online presence to support a freelance business, I brought in an expert, Laurence Bradford, to share all of the essential elements to building a freelance portfolio that wins you high-value clients.
As a starting point, let's understand what the purpose of having a portfolio website is. It's often the first impression a potential client will have of you, your style, your work, and the past clients (or companies) you've worked with. You need to effectively communicate the services you offer, and who they're for. Beyond that, you need to sell why you're the best person for this type of work--for the clients you want to work with.
Straight from Laurence, here's what every freelance portfolio needs to do to be truly effective at selling your services:

• Communicate your specialty and display examples of your work.
• List your contact information and show off your personality.
• Highlight your relevant skills, education, and accomplishments.
• Display testimonials (even if they're from co-workers or former bosses when you're just getting started).
• Have regular updates that show your evolution, new clients, and latest work.

As you're developing your portfolio site, find other freelancers within your space and get some inspiration from them. Uncover how they're positioning themselves and communicating their value propositions, and formulate how to start a freelance business your way.
6. Create Examples of What You Can Deliver (on Your Portfolio Site).
You want your website to serve as a destination to demonstrate your expertise. With that in mind, one of the best ways to show you're in the know within your space is by regularly publishing new content, images, or videos (depending upon the content medium you work in) that will impress your target clients. Once you have an understanding of what your clients need, go out and create examples of that exact type of content--as if you had been hired to produce it--for your website.
There's no better way to sell your services than to already show your clients that you can create what they need. What's more, it will make their projects that much easier when you have a library of related work to pull from for inspiration.
My website is a living example of this. At least once per month, I make a point of publishing a very thorough, 4,000-word-plus blog post on a topic related to starting and growing a profitable side business, the theme of everything on my site.

Read more at AOL

15 jobs where men out-earn women the most

Many Americans still don't believe that women are, more often than not, paid less than men for doing the same job.
A recent report by Glassdoor helps shed some light on the matter.
Based on more than 534,000 salary reports shared on the job review site, Glassdoor found that women earn on average $0.95 cents for every dollar men earn when you take into account a person's age, education, years of job experience, job title, employer, and location. That's an adjusted gender pay gap of 5.4%.

The sad truth about all those new U.S. jobs

Here's all you need to know about the U.S. economy: It's a great time to be a waiter or bartender. Or a nurse. Everybody else....meh.

You've seen the numbers. The U.S. economy keeps churning out new jobs by the hundreds of thousands, month after month. Even long-term unemployment numbers seem to be improving. So why do things still feel so bad? And more to the point, why are presidential candidates able to capitalize on that feeling so easily?

I set out to find out, and found myself in a love/hate relationship with Labor Department data recently. We're still dating, the data and I — it's complicated — but here's the part that is not complicated:

Since March 2011 — five years ago — the U.S. economy has added 12.4 million jobs. Here's a sampling of where those jobs have appeared:

5 employers who will help pay your student loans

The student loan debt crisis is having a real impact on individuals and the economy in general. As a result, some lawmakers want to encourage employers to help their workers pay down their student loan debt. One proposal, for example, would grant businesses and workers a tax break.