The Different Types of Commercial Leases

The Different Types of Commercial LeasesThe Different Types of Commercial LeasesYoure ready to hang out your shingle or otherwise go into business for yourself, but you need space, a place from which to run your operation. If youre wading into the world of commercial leases for the first time, you might feel a little overwhelmed by all the different terms that are thrown about. You might be unsure what youre getting into. Those terms are not actually as intimidating as they sound, however. Heres a chart you can use to identify the type of commercial lease youre being offered and what it means to your bottom line, along with some definitions for various terms. Types of commercial leases can overlap, so its important to focus on how rent and other fees are calculated. Types of Commercial Real Estate Leases Type of LeaseRent BasisOften Used InPercentage Leasekusine Rent + Percent of Monthly SalesRetail Businesses MallsNet LeaseIn addition to rent, tenant pays some or all of taxes, insur ance, or maintenance.Any commercial lease usually favors landlords interests.Double Net LeaseTenant pays rent + taxes and insurance.Any commercial lease usually favors landlords interests.Triple Net LeaseTenant pays rent + taxes, insurance, and maintenance.Any commercial lease usually favors landlords interests.Fully Serviced Lease (Gross Lease)Landlord directly pays all or most usual costs. These costs are often passed on to the tenant in rent as a Load Factor.Office, Some industrial and retail leases. Ok, so what does all this really mean? The following is a list of some of the terms youll want to make sure you understand, and some tips to help you remember what these different leases mean when youre negotiating and thinking on your feet. Base Rent This is the very least youll have to pay each month other fees, if any, are added to this amount. Think of it as the cousine of a hill or mountain.Double Net Lease Double means two additional costs will be added to your base rent tax a nd insurance costs incurred by the landlord.Fully Serviced Lease Also called a gross lease, your landlord willtake responsibility for paying for most of the extras, but make no mistake, they will most likely trickle down to you as a load factor. You can think of fully serviced as it includes everything, but your rent will most likely be substantially more than base rent. Load FactorLoad factor is a method of calculating total monthly rent costs combining usable square feet with a percentage of the square feet of common areas used by all tenants. Common areas typically include restrooms, lobby, elevators, stairwells, and hallways. If you share a building with three other tenants and each of your usable square feet the area youre actually renting as your store or office is substantially equal, your percentage contribution toward the common areas might be 25 percent or so. Net Lease This is a somewhat undefined version of a double or triple net lease. Youll pay for some taxes, insura nce and maintenance costs incurred by the landlord, if not 100 percent of one or all of them. The percentage can often be negotiable.Percentage Lease The word percentage does not relate to the usable square feet you can claim as your own in a commercial building nor the percentage of taxes, insurance, and maintenance you might pay as part of a net lease. Its a percentage of your monthly sales over a certain threshold. You might expect to pay this if you rent retail space in a mall. Rentable Square Feet This is your usable square feet positiv your percentage of the common area square footage.Triple Net Lease Triple means three additional costs over and above your base rent taxes, insurance, and maintenance. So there you have it. Go out and negotiate your lease like a pro.

4 Top Hiring Strategies in Todays Market

4 Top Hiring Strategies in Todays Market4 Top Hiring Strategies in Todays MarketAs you search for candidates to fill new positions or vacated roles in finance and accounting, you should also orchestrate your hiring strategies. With low unemployment rates, supply is down and demand is up, along with the competition for top talent.You arent the only manager impacted by this. In a new survey, 93 percent of CFOs said it is challenging to identify skilled workers for professional-level positions. Its also taking them a month or more to fill the roles.Hiring strategies that worked a few years ago may elend work with todays unemployment rates. Job seekers have the upper hand, and you may need to retool so you can platzdeckchen up your organization for success without unnecessary stress and wasted time and energy for you and your team.Here are four steps to ramp up your recruitment for more effective hiring.1. Complete critical planning stagesTo find ideal candidates, its important to first do some strategizing. Before you announce your opening, sit down with fellow managers and identity the must-have attributes, experience and skills the position requires. Take note of what is absolutely essential and what could be taught on the job.You can streamline your recruitment by doing these thingsCultivate a talent pipeline - Odds are, you still have a list of people who applied with your department before and didnt make the final cut but were a good fit for your company. Update the list with referrals from your employees and networks.Create solid accounting job descriptions - Use information and input gleaned from your meetings with fellow managers. Be as specific as possible to capture the essence of the job, including key responsibilities and skill sets you need with a goal to hire the person who is the best match for the job and your work environmentEnlist help from your team - Your most senior staff members can save you precious time by helping process applications, s creening resumes and narrowing the candidate pool.Intensify your recruitment - Gone are the days when you could put up a job posting without any hiring strategies and watch the applications come streaming in. You need to cast a wide net to get the word out, using job boards, social media, networking and advertising.GET HELP WITH HIRING2. Dont dawdle with the interviewingIn a tight labor market, you dont have months to hem and haw over candidates. If you wait, your competitors will swoop in and lure them away. When you spot top performers, you should act quickly - but not rashly - to bring them on board.Make sure your interview process is efficient and productive with these tipsConduct phone and video interviews - A 10- or 15-minute phone interview is a good way to pare down the list of candidates and weed out possible bad hires before you invite anyone for in-person interviews. Using a video conferencing service like Skype, you have the added advantage of evaluating business eti quette, professionalism, speaking abilities and interest in the position.Create a list of effective interview questions - Youll want to ask each candidate the same questions to ensure you have a basis of comparison for gauging responses.Cut down or combine rounds - You could lose your favorites with too many steps, so whittle your interview list to the top three to five candidates and look closely at the number of interviews and stages of approval youll require.Stay in spur - Candidates can lose interest if you keep them waiting. Provide updates and respond promptly to any questions they have.While youre at it, test the office waters to make sure candidates mesh with your corporate culture. Aside from evaluating technical expertise, experience and soft skills, such as communication and presentation, have your chief contenders meet with the person who would be their direct supervisor and potential coworkers.3. Perfect your hiring strategies for closingOnce you determine your top p ick and have all your approvals, prepare an attractive - and flexible - compensation package.With candidates commonly receiving multiple offers, more employers are willing to engage in salary negotiation. But to succeed, hiring managers need to stay up to date on the most current pay rates for finance and accounting professionals. Make sure your offers are in line with those of your competitors, and decide beforehand the upper limit of what you can offer. You can find salary data for more than 190 positions in the Salary Guide for Accounting and Finance.Also, dont forget that money isnt the only factor people consider when choosing a job. If youve asked the right questions during the interview, youll know what matters most to the professionals you are recruiting - flexible hours, extra vacation time, tuition reimbursement and the opportunity to work remotely, for example. Be creative with employee perks beyond the paycheck.4. freund with a financial recruiterYou dont have to do t his alone. In fact, you may want to make this your first step in the process of finding and hiring skilled professionals.Leading specialized staffing agencies know the current employment trends and have large networks of skilled professionals to meet your hiring needs. Top job recruiters will also have solid business alliances.At Finance Accounting, we can help you overcome your hiring challenges in this market. Not only do our recruiters handle vetting the best candidates, but we also streamline the interview process and help with the offer stage to ensure smooth negotiations. Instead of waiting (and working overtime) for two months, you could have the perfect addition to your team in just a couple weeks.Take a good look at your hiring strategies and make sure they work for you and the organization. Companies that understand how to do it right will have an advantage in todays job market.Call 1.855.887.9660 for personalized assistance with your hiring needs.

13 questions you need to answer before the interview

13 questions you need to answer before the interview13 questions you need to answer before the interviewBefore you spend time preparing to answer difficult interview questions here are some questions to ask yourself.If you can answer these questions you will better be able to position your signature strengths in alignment with the companys goals.1. Do you understand the purpose of the business for which you are interviewing?Study it on their website. Ask people who know the organization questions about the culture. Be able to describe what your impression is and ask questions about it. Say it out loud.2. Why are you passionate about the company mission?How do your values align with the companys values? Say this out loud.3. Have you defined your transferable skillsWhat from your education and experience that can be applied to this position (check out this free training seminar here)? Can you recite them out loud?4. What signature strength do you have that can bring value in this role? 5. How would you tell the story of your career trajectory thus far in five sentences or less?6. Have you written down and can you easily state your accomplishments that apply to this industry?7. What problem will you describe that you have solved in the past?8. What are your suggested solutions to challenges you perceive the company may have or the position holds? List them on paper and speak of them out loud.9. What appropriate attire and accessories or lack thereof will you wear for the interview? List the items.10. What tone of voice and body language do you want to have to convey executive presence? Have you practiced this in front of a mirror more than once?11. Can you explain how your hobbies, interests, volunteer work and activities lend themselves already to the leadership role for which you are applying?12. Do you have a portfolio to bring with letters of reference and measurable examples of your work?13. Can you tell a story when you answer questions?Storytelling is an art and is far more engaging than a list of accomplishments. How did you grow? Show humility. What did you learn about yourself in the process? When you are asked a question on an interview, answer it by giving an example of how you accomplished that challenge already in another position.People remember stories because they identify with the main character. Good stories contain a conflict that is overcome by an endearing character. Endearing characters are honest and driven.Every good fairytale holds a conflict that was overcome by an endearing character. That is why we remember fairy tales from our childhood when we forget some of your friends.

Why It Takes so Long for a Response on a Government Job

Why It Takes so Long for a Response on a Government JobWhy It Takes so Long for a Response on a Government JobIt can seem like forever between the time you submit a job application and when you finally receive a response, particularly with government jobs. This happens because there are many steps in thegovernment hiring processand theres generally no set deadline or time by which this entire process takes. The waiting period from applying to receiving a final answer depends on several factors, but if you hear nothing after a really extended period of time, it means you most likely arent in consideration for the job. Is It a Vacant Position? Whether the position is currently vacant or isexpected to become vacant in the near future can have a significant effect on the time frame. The agency has an incentive to speed up the process when its attempting to fill avacant position. It has more time to sift through applications if thats not the case and it knows well in advance that an e mployee is leaving. The OrganizationWants to Be Thorough The organization also has an incentive to adequate review each and every candidate, which can slow down the process, particularly during times of high unemployment and numerous applications are received. It can take a long time to correct the situation if the person whos hired turns out to be a poor fit, especially in government where agencies protect employees from unfair personnel actions. Many agencies take the position that its better to take plenty of time for review in the beginning rather than spend even more time straightening out a mistake later. Making It Past the First Screening It could be only a week or two after the application closing date that you get arejection letterif youre screened out of the selection process when the agencys human resources department reviews all applications for minimum requirements. The good nachrichten is that you generally receive this news relatively quickly, so take heart if youre still waiting after a couple of weeks...although not much longer than that. A Month of Silence If you dont hear back after a month, you can most likely forget about that job. The agency could be interviewing other candidates and might notify all applicants that they werent selected after they choose the new hire. But dont delete electronic copies of the application materials you sent because theres still a slightchance that youre in the running- you might be next on the list if the people ahead of you dont work out. If Youre a Finalist If youreselected as a finalist, you should hear back within about three weeks to set up an interview. You should hear back on the agencys final selection within another week or two after the interview. This timeline might be stretched out quite a bit, however, if the agency offers the job to someone else and that candidate winds up rejecting the offer. If you get a job offer after waiting for about a month or so after the interview, thi s is likely what happened.

Customize this Outstanding Management And Hr Consultant Resume

Customize this Outstanding Management And Hr Consultant ResumeCustomize this Outstanding Management And Hr Consultant ResumeSample ResumesCreate Resume Sample Management And HR Consultant ResumeOBJECTIVEServe as a lead expert resource for strategic business initiatives, workforce development and analytics, human resource management, workplace best practices, organizational enhancement, project management, performance measurement, government relations, communications and other organizational consulting functions.RELOCATEDC FL GA IN LA TXDEAN A. BLACK, SPHR, CPC, CAPMMANAGEMENT and HUMAN RESOURCES PROFESSIONAL STRATEGIC BUSINESS PARTNER SENIOR PROJECT MANAGERCAREER OBJECTIVEServe as a lead expert resource for strategic business initiatives, workforce development and analytics, human resource management, workplace best practices, organizational enhancement, project management, performance measurement, government relations, communications and other organizational consulting functions.FI ELDS OF EXPERTISE,Growth Strategy Initiatives, Project/Program Management, menschenfreundlich Resources Management, Workforce Transformation, Budgeting Financial Reporting, Compensation and Benefits, Operations Management, Management Development, Talent Management Recruiting, Marketing and Development, Turnaround Leadership, Business Analysis Auditing, Administration/Support Services, Progressive Management Practices, Community/Public Relations, Strategic Partnership Development, Senior Level Management and Leadership, Urban/Multicultural Programs, Statistical Process Control, Continual Improvement Processes, Benchmarking, Activity Based Costing.PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCEJustAskHR Management and Human Resource Consulting September 1996-Present President and Managing Consultant Serve as the chief executive officer of the company and responsible for the operation and administration of the firm. To provide leadership for the companys strategic direction and market penetration and play a key role in new product development, client relationships, and profitable corporate revenue growth. Responsible for creating and driving a winning corporate culture while building an outstanding senior executive team. Manage all corporate operations/functional roles/budgets as well as lead all future rounds of business development. Approve, execute, and administer all client contracts. Serve as Senior Consultant on all client assignments. Interface with clients. Lead teams in giving shape to extensive analyses of cutting-edge strategic issues. A sampling of client assignments are listed belowUSFILTER OPERATING SERVICES, INC. VEOLIA WATER (VIVENDI) May 2000 PresentSenior Management Consultant Executive level involvement in the development and coordination of long-range strategies to achieve business growth and enhanced profitability in urban municipal markets. Project management for the development of Strategic Business Plans, coordinating activities of multiple departments util izing project management techniques with full supervision of costs, methods and processes. Responsible for a $1.1 million dollar annual budget and leadership of project teams in excess of fifty professionals.Generated of over $1 billion dollars of backlog contracts. Guaranteed clients at least 30% reduction in operating costs. Enhanced positioning of Business Development strategies. Designed human resource transition, transformation and deployment strategies. Implemented performance monitoring. Established community, minority attainment and economic development programs.Human Resource Consultant Led HR efforts in mergers, acquisitions and contact operations. Successfully managed the integration of a 50% increase in staff. Improved profit utilizing progressive management techniques, metric measurements and aggressive cost modeling. Developed and implemented workforce re-engineering programs. Dramatically increased employee satisfaction. Reduced turnover. Implemented strategies to ach ieve Employer of Choice status. Designed and delivered public education programs.UNITED WATER SERVICES, INC. SUEZ INTERNATIONAL February 1994- May 2000Senior Management Advisor Human Resource Consultant Business Development Strategist (September 1996 May 2000) Team Leader in the five largest public-private transfers of employees in the United States Indianapolis Wastewater and Collection System, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, Gary Sanitary District, Atlanta Water Supply System and Indianapolis Water. Request for Proposal Analysis, Due Diligence, Proposal Development, Employee Transition Management, Benefits and Compensation Analysis, Mobilization, Labor Contract Negotiations, Outplacement Management, Labor-Management Relations, On-Site Human Resource Management, Employee Training and Management Development Program design and facilitation, Community and Client Relations.Successfully transitioned mora than 2,500 municipal employees into private sector employment, includ ing labor contract negotiation. Complete organizational restructuring from private sector operations to private sector standards. Overall generation of nearly $100 million dollars in annual saving, Achieved an average of 30% cost savings through the implementation of Business Process Analysis, Activity Based Costing, Benchmarking, Process Improvement Plans, Metrics, Balanced Scorecards and Project Management techniques.UNITED WATER SERVICES, INC. SUEZ INTERNATIONALVice President of Human Resources (promoted from Director in 1995) Directed human resource management activities within the organization to maximize the strategic use of human capital and maintain functions such as employee compensation, recruitment, personnel policies, and regulatory compliance. Responsible for all labor relations activities. Formulated policies and business strategies for the overall direction of the organization. Staff management providing services for 1,800 employees with a budget of $750,000.Reduced grievances by 90 percent and work related accidents by 80%. Participation in more than fifty acquisition, marketing and proposal development efforts including completion of full-scale labor, compensation and benefits analysis for each. Team leader for the development of Human Resources Standard Operating Procedures, Skill Based Training and Incentive Team-Based Pay Programs.CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS MAYORS OFFICE June 1990-February 1994 Director of Personnel Instrumental in the competitive bidding process for the City of Indianapolis, resulting in $48 millions dollars in annual savings and a 40% reduction in the non-public safety workforce. Lead Labor Relations negotiator. Designed a complete organizational restructuring. Formulated policies and provided overall direction of municipal government activities. Directed and coordinated operational activities at the highest level of management with the help of subordinate managers. Implemented employee adjustment and transition programs. Sta ff management with an annual budget of $2.4 million servicing just over 5,600 employees.EDUCATION -Bachelor of Science Business Management, Human Resources Concentration Indiana State University May 1987 -Senior Certified Human Resource Professional (SPHR), Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) -Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM), Project Management Institute (PMI) -Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC), National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS) -Stanley K. Lacy Executive Leadership Program, Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce -Additional Training Extraordinary Leaders and Unleashing Executive Talent, FrontLine Leadership, Project Management. Six (6 ) Sigma, DMAIC, Total Quality Management (TQM), Strategic Planning, Goal Setting, Return on Investment (ROI)Willing to Relocate and/or Travel ExtensivelyAdditional Information Available Upon RequestCustomize Resume

What You Dont Know About Resumegenuis Could Be Costing to More Than You Think

What You Dont Know About Resumegenuis Could Be Costing to More Than You Think To find expert job resumes If youre prepared to commute to Georgia also take a look at the Employ Georgia website to hunt for jobs. If you opt to click the links on our website, we might get compensation. For help writing your resume, visit the Resume Center and select the particular aspects of resume writing that you want to improve upon. Using Resumegenuis If you are searching for a top quality resume or titelbild letter which will help you land the job of your dreams, this dienst really isnt the ideal option. Focus on how youre an advantage to the companynot the way the corporation can help you. Make certain its tailored to not merely the position, but the provider too. These five are a few of the most trusted resume writing services providers who have helped and yet helping many folks in receiving the best quality professional resumes to acquire their jobs. The sample text is provided to assis t you, but keep in mind that youre able to change it easily to fit your abilities and experience. ResumeBucket is another resume builder that has pre-written abilities and work experience inserts for many different employment fonts. Or you may select a pre-written resume from your area. For students fresh out of college, however, its the other way around and not simply because it helps fill the essential space. Resumegenuis for Dummies To assist you navigate this important part of your resume, we have assembled a collection of example objective statements that you are able to utilize to come up with your own. The following is an instance of a chronological resume. This section is designed to show you that theres a large number of ways that you can write, structure or format your resume. Then take a look at the following resume writing tips to learn to compose a resume optimizing each section for greatest success. Resumegenuis No Longer a Mystery When writing your resume objective, you need to always have the aim of answering this question. Resume objectives can be somewhat controversial. For instance, when applying for a teaching position, a thesis in teaching methodology is something which can score you a great deal of points with the HR department, leading to work interview. You may proactively tell the reader you will follow up at a specific point in time. Also, the author should make them believe theyre compatible of building a career change, ensuring they would definitely do well in the new industry. If youre not acquainted with resume writing, we advise that you read the articles about how to compose a resume, how to format a resume and the way to structure a resume. The candidate would need to share the work description so the writer receives a very clear understanding about the requirement of the position. What Everybody Dislikes About Resumegenuis and Why The resume builder tool features over 20 templates for you to select from. The easy resume builder will supply you with instructions about how to fill in each leer space. Looking at other resume examples when youre done with a draft of your resume will permit you to be more critical. Pick a resume builder template to start. Resumegenuis No Longer a Mystery You can accomplish this with the overall look and layout of your letter. It ought to be in a crystal clear and easily readable font, well laid out, and if youre mailing your letter use decent high quality stationery. No template was created to include photos or eye-catching colours. Maybe youre looking for a specific style of cover letter. The True Meaning of Resumegenuis If you intend to use a template, you also need to opt for the correct one for the letter. You also need to pick the suitable template for the letter. From that point, you are going to be in a position to experience the text edition of the resumes, and see an image of the formatted resumes. This type of the Nurse Resume is an il lustration of a cyber-safe chronological resume. Resumegenuis Secrets That No One Else Knows About This resource will allow you to find the tools you require to research career info, training, or jobs. Whenever you have information regarding the business and their requirements, you are able to then highlight your relevant skills and achievements to demonstrate why youre the person for the job. Lots of people dont like their present job or career. When theres an open Doe Run job that fits with your abilities and interests, we will connect with you. Ruthless Resumegenuis Strategies Exploited Dont forget, youre not required to include your reason behind resigning in your letter. However bitter youre, resist the need to vent in your resignation letter, Salemi explained. One of the very first things to keep in mind about writing a cover letter is that you ought to tailor it to the particular position. If you are in need of a small assistance with writing your next cover letter, here are a few strategies and templates to assist. You may also access lots of totally free letter samples for various industries and a completely free cover letter writing guide. Sample cover letters to find the job that you desire. Take advantage of these cover letter samples to receive your job application noticed. Resumegenuis Secrets Our resume builder is the quickest approach to create a resume that can help you get your fantasy job. The time spent working on your resume isnt wasted. Summarize why youre the ideal person for the job. You may find several great resume templates, but you are going to have to decide if theyre likely to help or hurt your likelihood of landing an interview.

Top 10 Predictions for Employee Referrals in 2015

Top 10 Predictions for Employee Referrals in 2015 2014 saw employee referral programs gain a lot of momentum as organizations tried to hire the best talent in the market without spending too much on recruiting. The biggest recruiting challenge for 2014 was gaining access to the pool of passive candidates, and this is where employee referral programs came in particularly handy. 2014 was also the year thatsocial media finally entered the realm of recruiting to make it easier for both employers and candidates to research and communicate with each other directly and openly. 2015 promises to be another great year for recruiting in general and employee referrals in particular as organizations seek to expand and grow in all directions. While some trends from 2014 will continue to play a major role in 2015 as well, we also see a couple of new trends taking shape that will likely impact the future of emplo yee referralsMetrics are going to exert greater influence on employee referral programs as organizations departure tracking returns on their programs, using key metrics like cost per hire, applicant-to-hire ratio, time to fill, and ratio of participating employees to non participating employees. Employee referral programs will increasingly need to work toward achieving specific benchmark targets in order to be deemed useful by senior management.Metrics management is not possible without an automated, technology-driven employee referral program. Employee referral programs will move toward a more automated workflow process with minimal manual intervention, leading to smaller recruiting teams and more efficient referral program responses.Mobile is going to be bigfor referral programs in 2015. As thenumber of people accessing jobs and other services through handheld devices grows, referral programs will also become more mobile-friendly, with optimized websites and tools. Employees will be able to access referral programs through any device and use their devices to share job postings and refer candidates for open positions.Employee referral programs will also become moreefficient through automated matching technology that enables auto-matching of employee connections with available openings. Employees will only be expected to follow through with the results offeredby the auto-matching tools, reducing the time and effort needed to screen resumes. Modern-age employee referral tools like ZALPuse advanced algorithms to show the most relevant matches for open jobs.Social media will continue its dominance in 2015, and online networks will become virtual talent hubs.Organizations and employees alike will find it easier to contact vermgen candidates through social media.The growth in social media will also lead to a growth in employer-branding activities, with employees acting as brand ambassadors to spread positive word about their organizations.Proactive targeted-referra l mail will replace mass referral mail once and for all in 2015. As data tracking makes it possible to categorize employees into different referral capability levels, employees will be asked to refercandidatesbased on their ability to refer for specific skills and competencies.2015 will also see morecandidates approach employees working in specific organizations for referrals in order to get their foot inside the organization. Employees will be more sought-after than ever before as candidates look to get referred for the jobs they want.Referral programs will no longer limit themselves to employees, but will expand to include virtually anyone able to provide the organization with good candidates. By advertising open positions on social media and encouraging everyone to share these positions and refer anyone who might fit the role, organizations will draw out the best talent available in the market.Lastly, employee referral programs will move from standard response times to real-time feedback. Employees will receive instant feedback on the quality and fit of the candidates they refer. Employees will be asked to participate actively in the screening and interviewing processes to ensure that they have a realunderstanding of the kind of people that the organization is looking for.Employee referral programs are likely to become far more effective in 2015 as organizations start focusing efforts on inward sourcing, rather than seeking external partners for recruiting. Adopting one or more of these key trends in 2015 will help you make your sourcing process a competitive advantage for your company in the war for talent.

Alabama Students Win ASME Award at the Future Cities Finals

Alabama Students Win ASME Award at the Future Cities Finals Alabama Students Win ASME Award at the Future Cities Finals Alabama Students Win ASME Award at the Future City FinalsASME President-Elect J. Robert Sims (far left), ASME Past President Marc Goldsmith (second from left) and ASME President Madiha El Mehelmy Kotb (far right) with the team from the Academy for Science and Foreign Language, winners of the ASME Best Futuristic City Award.A team of middle-school students from the Academy for Science and Foreign Language in Huntsville, Ala., were awarded the ASME Best Futuristic City Award at the Future City Competition National Finals, which was during Engineers Week last month in Washington, D.C. ASME President-Elect J. Robert Sims (far left), ASME Past President Marc Goldsmith (second from left) and ASME President Madiha El Mehelmy Kotb (far right) with the team from the Academy for Science and Foreign Language, winners of the ASME Best Futuristic City Award.The an nual Future City Competition challenges sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders, working with a teacher and an engineering mentor, to devise, design and build cities of the future. Using SimCity software to plan their cities, the students then build tabletop scale models of their concepts using recycled materials and present their ideas before a panel of judges at regional Future City Competitions held in January. Winners of the regional contests then advance to the National Finals in February.The ASME Best Futuristic City Award recognizes the use of futuristic engineering concepts into citys communications, energy, or transportation systems. The students from the Academy for Science and Foreign Language, who named their team the Geeksters, won the ASME award for their Future City entry Facil Mudando (Spanish for easy moving), where the communitys residents are shuttled around on high-speed monorails and freight is shipped using dirigibles or underground tube systems.For more informatio n on the Future City Competition, or to view the complete list of winners, visit http//futurecity.org/awards.

Here are the Top 50 companies in America for new dads

Here are the Top 50 companies in America for new dadsHere are the Top 50 companies in America for new dadsBeing a new dad is stressful enough. Suddenly, every hour of your life is dedicated to keeping a helpless little human alive. Compounding that stress is the fact that you may not have enough hours to do this. Workplaces in America are notoriously unerleichterungive of fathers, discouraging them from taking paternal leave or taking their share of childcare duties. Dads complain that workplaces still expect them to put their jobs ahead of their children. But there are some companies who are doing it right.Fatherlys 2018 list of the best workplaces for new dads is a model of how other companies should be doing it.Surveying U.S. companies with more than 1,000 employees, Fatherly analyzed thirteen different policies to determine its list, including weeks of paid leave, the availability of parents support group, fertility aid, adoption expenses, flextime, onsite childcare, childcare su bsidy, backup childcare, sick days, student loan assistance, bereavement leave, ramp-back time, and elder care planning. The tech sector continues to be a pioneer for supporting working fathers. Out of the top 50 places surveyed, 40% of them were tech companies.The best workplaces helped working fathers at every stage of their life - as they raised toddlers and as they helped their aging parents. The top-ranked company, American Express, not only has an exceptional leave offering, but a program designed to encourage new fathers to take advantage of it and other programs intended to provide additional assistance, Fatherlys editor-in-chief Andrew Burmon told Ladders. Theres no shock here The companies that provide the best working environments for new parents are the companies that take great pains to do so.1. American ExpressBeyond offering 20 weeks of paid parental leave (The U.S. government still only offers you a grand total of 0), American Express is there to help you before the baby is even there with family planning assistance. Amex offers would-be parents a maximum benefit of $35,000 to finance fertility treatments, surrogacy, and adoption. Parents can take advantage of that perk twice, Fatherly reports.2. LenovoLenovo offers fathers eight weeks of paid paternity leave, but where it shines is in its flexibility. Where Lenovo really sets itself apart is in providing its employees with flex time and flexible leave to handle any sort of family emergency (as well as backup childcare through Bright Horizons), Fatherly reports.3. SpotifyWith a generous six-month parental leave policy for employees, Spotify sets itself apart for recognizing what studies already know when Dads are an active presence in their babys life, they are better fathers later in their life.4. EtsyHeadquartered in Brooklyn, New York, Etsy offers all full-time employees 26 weeks of paid parental leave. Although it lacks on-site childcare, it does provide assistance programs for adopting pa rents and parents of special needs children, in addition to unlimited sick leave for you to use if your child gets the flu.5. TwitterBeyond its 20 weeks of paid parental leave, the social media giant wants to hook up its employees with a parent discount. When new parents return to work, they are eligible to join a group called Twitter Parents, which provides support to all parents in the company and works with many partners to provide discount rates on goods and services specifically for moms and dads, Fatherly reports.6. Unilever North AmericaUnilever offers fewer weeks of paid parental leave than its contemporaries on this list with a total of eight weeks of paid parental leave. But it does excel at other benefits The company reimburses would-be parents for adoption-related expenses up to $7,000 per year and offers onsite childcare and backup dependent care, a massive boon to those with little ones, Fatherly reports.7. IBMDads, partners, and adoptive parents get up to 12 weeks of paid leave that they can use in their childs first year.8. NetflixThe video streaming company offers a whopping 52 weeks of paid parental leave that parents can use at their discretion. But how many employees are taking advantage of this policy? We dont know. Its worth noting that Netflix does not offer statistics on how many people take advantage of its full offering, which is the sole reason that the company does not currently top out this list, Fatherly reports.9. DeloitteThe company recognizes that every family structure is different, and its 16 weeks of paid leave are purposefully gender- and generation-neutral. Any eligible professional may use the program to bond with a child through birth or adoption or to care for a spouse/domestic partner, parent, child and/or sibling with a serious health condition, the company states.The program has been popular with employees. I dont have children but I do have aging parents and I am very happy to see that included as an option for the future if needed, one employee shared.10. Bank of AmericaBeyond childcare subsidy, the company offers its 16 weeks ofpaid parental leave to both full-time and part-time working fathers. According to the company, an unusually high 96% of eligible male employees who welcome a new child take advantage of this benefit, which clearly speaks to a healthy work culture, Fatherly reports.- - - When parents do not have to worry about caring for their children, they can focus more on their jobs. Beyond the top 10 places, the rest of the best workplaces also shared characteristics of a healthy work culture they were more likely to offer generous paid leave, childcare subsidy, flextime, support groups, and bereavement time.The top-rated companies tend to have policies and cultures that recognize the importance of parental leave and the importance of supporting fathers as they come back into work and over the course of their childrens lives, Vicki Shabo, Vice President for Workplace Policies a nd Strategies at the National Partnership for Women Families, told Ladders. Although it is heartening and encouraging to see that these companies have adopted some best practices in supporting fathers at work, Im continually reminded that creating supportive workplace policies and culture needs to happen on a much larger scale.Here is Fatherlys complete 2018 list of the best workplaces for new dadsAmerican Express2017 Rank 3Number of Employees 20,000 in the United States, 32,000 globallyLenovo2017 Rank n/aNumber of Employees 4,338 in the United States, 50,000 globallySpotify2017 Rank 4Number of Employees 3,000Etsy2017 Rank 2Full-Time Employees 1,043Twitter2017 Rank 6Full-Time Employees 3,300Unilever North America2017 Rank n/aFull-Time Employees 7,851IBM2017 Rank 40Full-Time Employees 366,000Netflix2017 Rank 1Full-time employees 4,000Deloitte2017 Rank 10Full-Time Employees 55,608Bank of America2017 Rank 8Full-Time Employees 200,00Square, Inc.2017 Rank 11Full-Time Employees 2,438Lyft 2017 Rank n/aNumber of Employees 2,600Pinterest2017 Rank 12Number of Employees 1,200Patagonia2017 Rank 9Number of Employees 1,550CA Technologies2017 Rank 14Number of Employees 5,675LinkedIn2017 Rank 37Number of Employees 11,800VMware2017 Rank 7Number of Employees 12,267NVIDIA2017 Rank 15Number of Employees 6,519NBA2017 Rank n/aNumber of Employees 1,500 globallyGenentech2017 Rank 22Number of Employees 15,000Microsoft2017 Rank 17Number of Employees 124,293 globallyeBay2017 Rank n/aNumber of Employees 14,100facebook inc2017 Rank 5Number of Employees 37,666Airbnb2017 Rank 19Number of Employees 4,000+IKEA U.S.2017 Rank 45Number of Employees 18,838Johnson Johnson2017 Rank 21Number of Employees 134,000Prudential Financial2017 Rank n/aNumber of Employees 17,413Akamai Technologies2017 Rank n/aNumber of Employees 3,500 in the United States, 7,650 globallyHorizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ2017 Rank n/aNumber of Employees 5,570Boston Scientific2017 Rank n/aNumber of Employees 14,142 in the U nited States, 29,000 globallyBASF2017 Rank 23Number of Employees 18,200Google2017 Rank 32Number of Employees 72,000The PNC Financial Services Group2017 Rank n/aFull-Time Employees 53,000Ultimate Software2017 Rank n/aFull-Time Employees 4,200Mastercard2017 Rank 24Full-Time Employees 13,400Paypal2017 Rank 31Full-Time Employees 18,700Zillow Group2017 Rank 27Number of Employees 3,250SP Global2017 Rank n/aNumber of Employees 5,462 in the United StatesCooley LLP2017 Rank n/aNumber of Employees 1,770State Street Corporation2017 Rank 26Capital One2017 Rank 20Number of Employees 42,600 full-time, 1,100 part-timeOppenheimerFunds2017 Rank 48Number of Employees 1,956Lexmark International, Inc.2017 Rank n/aNumber of Employees 2,220Intel Cooperation2017 Rank 30Number of Employees 50,682 full-time3M2017 Rank 28Number of Employees 36,364RSM2017 Rank n/aFull-time Employees 9,550+Bain Company2017 Rank 33Number of Employees 8,000Booz Allen Hamilton2017 Rank n/aFull-Time Employees 24,750Dow Jones Com pany2017 Rank n/aFull-time employees 2,819Vanguard2017 Rank 41Full-time employees 15,745

Social Media Secrets for Small Business

Social Media Secrets for Small BusinessSocial Media Secrets for Small BusinessSocial Media Secrets for Small Business Charney, Social Media Engagement ManagerContrary to popular belief, not every big company is putting big bucks into spreading their brand and employer message via social media at work. Most corporate social media functions have limited headcount, time and resources dedicated to social networks, demanding low-cost, innovative approaches for attracting and driving social media engagement,both current and potential.That means the social mediaplaying field for geschftslebenes has been leveled.Small business recruitment strategiesactually have a leg up when it comes to realizing the power (and profit) of social media. Breaking through the buzz doesnt require a huge investment in manpower, tools or technologies. It takes dedication, creativity and experimentation to formulate and deliver the right message to the right targets on the right platforms in other absoluts, it req uires a solid small business marketing strategy.While theres no secret formula for success, there are secrets that every small business owner should know when it comes to crafting a social media strategy.Here are eight social media secrets designed to give you a head start on the competition and capitalize on the conversation about your brand, business and bottom line.Fax machines send the wrong message Nothing makes your business appear behind the times more than advertising your fax number throughout your elektronischer brief signatures, hypertext markup language newsletters, home pages and business cards. Ask yourself when was the last time you likely received an unsolicited fax which led directly to sales? More than likely,its back when you were jamming to an eight-track tape.Secret Exchange the prime real estate your fax number now takes up and replace it with links to your social profiles.Doing soinstantly brands your business, signaling your willingness to engage with your cu stomers and candidates.Besides, in the off chance someone needs your fax number, theyll know where to find you to ask.What the Hashtag?Its a good idea not to jump into the Twitter conversation right away its challenging to know which conversations you should follow when youre starting out.Even harder is cracking the hashtag code.WTHashtag.com solves both problems with one easy to use website thats free (and you dont even have to register).Simply enter any hashtag into the search bar, and within seconds it displays top users, definitions, usage statistics and related resources. The best part, though, is its transcription service.It easily captures a word processing-friendly transcript of all tweets using that hashtag over a user-defined period of time so you can read (and report) without constantly monitoring your feed. Why do that? Because youve got more important things to do.Hint For small business owners, popular hashtags include smbiz, smallbiz and startup.Blast Follow Once youv e found out which hashtags youre fruchtwein interested in, enter them into BlastFollow.com to automatically generate a list of all accounts referencing them.Put in your Twitter credentials, click blast, and youll start following all those users en masse.You Dont Have To Pay To Measure ROI A growing number of corporations are using increasingly sophisticated tracking tools to monitor and measure the success of their social media efforts, paying a premium for advanced analytics, reporting and analysis.While these technologies make sense for Fortune 500 Companies, your small business can generate more than enough data using free tools to maximize the influence and impact of your social media efforts.When it comes to making friends on Facebookand YouTube, both channels provide self-generated reports for channel and fan page activity, respectively this simplyrequires opting in on your businessaccount to see analytics that are easy to understand and interpret. For Twitter, Twitter Analyze r is just one of many free options that provides advanced and accurate analytics. Its a goldmine of actionable data, tracking unique readers, reach, retweet trends and most tweeted topics among its many reporting capabilities.When it comes to measuring your blog, Google Analytics remains the gold standard for its insights and interface.Pipl.com This deep web people search engine can help fill in the blanks about almost anyone.If you have a name, phone number, e-mail address or even a social networks username, this free tool will return all available online data within seconds, from public records to social profiles.E-Mail Still Matters Even with the rise in social media, most of your customers and clients, both current and prospective, likely still rely predominantly on email for communication. But for your message to break through todays increasingly crowded inbox, you need more than a clever subject line.For email marketing, check out Mail Chimp, which allows you to create, distri bute and track customized HTML newsletter campaigns that can help small businesses make a big impact.Their forever free plan lets you send up to 6,000 e-mails to up to 1,000 subscribers a month if you need more, their pay for performance model guarantees you get what you pay for.Case Studies Are Learning Experiences Social medias all about transparency, which means that many companies make valuable information about their social media objectives and strategy publically available.Reading case studies not only highlights real-life examples of social media initiatives that really work, but more importantly, what doesnt.Two of the most comprehensive sites for social media best (and worst) practices are the Social Media Business Council and SmartBrief on Social Media, with new cases delivered daily to your inbox.Finally, there are no secrets in social mediaand thats the point.But you didnt hear that from us.