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Get Great Benefits by Taking on One of These 11 Part-Time Jobs

LearnVest — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:15:46 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

“Underemployment” is a term that, compared to “unemployment,” more fully captures the lack of job opportunities.

The underemployed includes the unemployed as well as those employed part-time but wanting full-time work.

According to a recent poll, underemployment is currently at 18.1 percent. That’s down from 18.3 percent the month prior, and 19 percent a year ago. While these numbers are still high, there are opportunities to work part-time. You won’t make as much money as you would with a full-time job, but with many part-time positions, you’ll not only earn a salary but also score some great perks.

Related: the 10 Fastest-Growing Jobs

We’ve put together a list of 11 big-name companies that provide big benefits to its part-time workers. Whether they're offering free merchandise, health insurance benefits, or tuition aid, these employers certainly make it worth your while to work, even if you’re only putting in 20 hours a week.

Whole Foods

After part-timers have worked 400 hours, they get health, dental, and vision plans, as well as 401(k) retirement plans, paid time off, and a 20 percent employee discount. After working 6,000 hours, employees are offered stock options.

Target

Work at Target as few as two and a half days a week for six months, and you can become eligible for Target’s health care coverage. Employees also get access to other health benefits like free flu vaccinations, a 24-hour nurse hotline, and discounts for Weight Watchers.

Read on for more.

Messed Up on an Interview? Ask For Another Chance

Emily Co — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:00:04 PST

If thinking about your last interview makes you cringe, you may want to ask your interviewer for a second go at it if you know you're qualified for the position. Apparently, it can work in some circumstances, according to Glassdoor.com. But you need to be honest and humble when attempting to ask for another chance. Another idea to get a second interview is to ask someone to step in for you. Perhaps a friend, colleague, or recruiter who is willing to vouch for you and your abilities.

Sometimes asking for a second interview may work for you, because the employer may view it in a positive light and respect your attempt. Glassdoor says:

It takes courage to request a second chance and some employers may admire that, said Tashana Sims-Hudspeth, a Columbus, Ohio-based human resource manager who also teaches on HR and being successful in college. She suggests an approach that includes an apology, a general explanation of what went wrong, and a request for a second chance. The candidate must be very clear how much they want to work at the employer and then use their personal judgment on giving a detailed explanation on what contributed to their bad performance.

If you were told that you weren't picked because another job candidate had a skill you didn't possess, Keystone Associate’s Pennell Locey says you should take a six-week class to brush up on the skill, or gain the experience through volunteering for a two-month charity project. After you've gained the knowledge or the experience, write back to the hiring manager to let them know that you have put in the effort to attain the missing skills and experience they were looking for. If you do possess those qualities, Locey encourages job seekers to write a brief follow-up email and cite one or two examples that highlight them. Personally, I think there's no harm in trying for a second chance and that the worst response you can get is a "no." As long as you go about it with finesse, reaching out to employers again might leave them with a good, and more memorable, impression of you, and they may potentially keep you in mind for future positions.

In Her Shoes: April Beyer, Matchmaker and Relationship Coach

Anna Monette Roberts — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 03:05:36 PST

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, April Beyer, expert relationship coach and matchmaker, gives SavvySugar an insider's look into her unique career. Helping men and women find lasting relationships for almost 14 years, she is the founder and president of Beyer & Company, a matchmaking and relationship consulting firm. She's frequently interviewed and has been seen on Dr. Phil, 20/20, and Good Morning America. Beyond her weekly clients, April writes on her blog, conducts seminars, and is working on a book to help women prepare for love and romance. April tells us what it's like to assist other people on their journey to finding love and happiness.

SavvySugar: Can you tell me about your career path and how your business has grown throughout the years?

April Beyer: I started out in the high-end matchmaking industry nearly 14 years ago. I had worked with a matchmaking company and was there for about six or seven years. I was responsible for many marriages there. In 2003, I decided to venture out on my own and start a relationship coaching and consulting business. Now, I still have my matchmaking company. I work with a handful of highly successful marriage-minded men. I am also a coach and a writer.

Now my passion is to help women better understand themselves first so then they can naturally attract the man of their dreams. I am a little bit more of a holistic dating and relationship coach, but I think of myself more as is a communication and authenticity coach. For me, it's not about teaching people dating skills, it is teaching them relationship skills.

Click here to read more about April.

Résumé Tip For the Long-Term Unemployed

Emily Co — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:25:53 PST

Employers generally tend to want to hire people who currently have jobs, making it harder for the long-term unemployed. That's why when you've been unemployed for a long time, you may feel insecure about your résumé. It's obviously natural to want to hide the fact that you haven't had a job in a while, but there are better ways to deal with this predicament. The New York Times offers some solid advice:

No matter how you organize it, prospective employers will see the gap in your employment. You can put the emphasis elsewhere, however. Mr. Margolin suggests customizing résumés for specific positions by writing four or five sentences at the top summing up your skills and experience related to that opportunity.

Change the "work experience" section to "experience" and write about volunteer and paid work, making clear which work was unpaid but using the same language for both, says Elena Bajic, founder and C.E.O. of Ivy Exec, a recruitment service in New York. For volunteer as well as paid work, she says, "quantify your results, talk about the strategies used to get there and about how you contributed to the growth and success of the organization."

This is just another reminder for job hunters to stay active and to invest time and energy into filling up the gaps in your résumé with volunteer activities, education, and freelance gigs. Employers like to hire people who take initiative, and you'll be a more attractive candidate if they notice your proactiveness.

Ellen DeGeneres Uses Humor to Send a Message to Her Haters

Annie Scudder — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:50:42 PST

Ellen DeGeneres aired a message today to anyone who takes issue with her sexuality: "haters are motivators." After JC Penney signed on the talk-show host as its new spokeswoman, the "conservative, pro-family" group One Million Moms called for a boycott. Ellen told her audience, "This organization doesn't think that I should be the spokesperson because I'm gay. For those of you who are just tuning in for the first time, it's true. I'm gay. I hope you were sitting down." The group had released a statement accusing JC Penney of "jumping on the pro-gay bandwagon" by hiring Ellen. But as Ellen pointed out, "Being gay or pro-gay isn't a bandwagon. You don't get a free ride anywhere. There's no music. Occasionally we'll sing 'We Are Family,' but that's about it." Watch Ellen look over the support she's received from her fans and explain her traditional values now in this moving, and of course humorous, clip.

The Muppets' Music Man Bret McKenzie on His Oscar Nod and Taking a Silly Job Seriously

Lindsay Miller — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:50:41 PST

Bret McKenzie is up for an exceedingly rare honor this year, with his ballad "Man or Muppet" earning one of just two nominations in the Oscars' best song category. I caught up with The Muppets' musical supervisor today at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank to chat about the awards attention and the unique experience of penning music for Kermit and company. The New Zealand native talked about fighting the temptation to use the word "motherfrogger" in his songwriting and the roundabout way he came on board The Muppets project in the first place. Bret - who previously was best known as one half of the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords - also shared his hopes of bringing FOC to the big screen. Check out our conversation below:

PopSugar: It's got to be an honor to be nominated for an Oscar, but also in a year when the Academy only bothered to nominate two songs.
Bret McKenzie: They barely nominated anyone! When I found out, it sounded like there'd been a mistake, and yeah, it's a huge honor. It's great and it's really exciting, and I'm not complaining that there's only two nominees the year I'm nominated. I mean, this is the best chance I'll have of winning an Oscar, ever. It couldn't have been better, unless there was just one nomination, and then it would be a very dull ceremony . . . There's a lot of legendary musicians - tunesmiths - in that list of possible nominations. So it's all very surreal to think that I got in ahead of Elton John.

PS: And Madonna. Those two had a little rivalry going on.
BM: I know. I got nervous about what Elton John's husband was going to say about me. It's crazy, and it's great for The Muppets film, because we're all really proud of the film and it wasn't ever really going to get a best actor. Hey, Jason's good, that's not what I mean, but Kermit, Miss Piggy - they can't win these awards - and comedies don't generally get recognized at these awards ceremonies, so it's kind of cool. It's almost like the film as a whole is being recognized with this category.

For more from our chat with Bret, including what he says about his plans for a Flight of the Conchords film, coaching Jason Segel, and the pressure he felt on the project, just

read more! PS: What was the biggest unexpected challenge for you writing music for the film? I know you talked about one draft of a song where you referred to a Muppet as a piece of felt and were told you couldn't do that. BM: Yeah. Little piece of felt, and you couldn't say things like motherfrogger, even though it's very tempting. There were lots of hard parts to it. The Muppets can't sing certain notes. They can't sing too high or the voice changes and doesn't sound like the right character. There were so many weird things. I spent hours recording penguins and rats, and what's weird is that it's such a silly job, but you have to take it very seriously. So I would be in the studio for days, maybe a whole day recording penguins, and then I'm like, "I'm not happy with how the penguins are sounding! Where's penguin four?" You know, getting demanding. "We lost penguin track four! I can't hear the penguin!" PS: I was watching the movie again last night and watching Jason Segel's performance of "Man or Muppet." Did you coach him on any of his rockstar moves? Because he pretty much nailed it. BM: He nailed it. That's my favorite moment in the film. When he buckles down in the rain, that was one of my favorite shots. I was so proud of what James [Bobin, the director] and those guys achieved, because I wasn't there on set, I just saw them syncing the video, and I was like, "Wow, guys. You nailed it." What we did do in the studio, as Jason and I had a technique where I would sing a line, and he'd watch me through the window, and then he'd sing it back. So we did this thing where, I was really into the drama of it. So, I was like, "Am I a Muppppettt?" [balling his hands into fists] And he'd be like, OK, record. "Am I a Muppppettt!" So we kind of worked together to get that style. PS: Did it shatter some of your childhood illusions to have the guy that does Miss Piggy's voice come work with you [in the recording studio]? BM: Yeah. Well, it wasn't Frank Oz. The guy Eric, who does it now, yeah. That was strange. And the day that we recorded Kermit the Frog doing "Rainbow Connection" - I was sort of pinching myself, because that was probably one of the real moments for me where I realized that my world had really changed. That I'd come from New Zealand, I'd grown up with Kermit the Frog, and now I was in Hollywood in a studio recording Kermit the Frog. It felt like worlds had collided. PS: Was there pressure knowing there was already this great catalog of Muppet songs? To try to add to that or top it in some way? BM: I knew I wouldn't top "Rainbow Connection," but I was very intimidated, but the way I worked on the job was it actually started with me just writing one song, so I didn't feel the pressure of writing the whole movie. I think it would have been different if I'd been hired from the outset to do all the music. So I wrote one, then another, and gradually wrote more and more, so that helped. PS: What song did you write first? BM: The opening song. That's the one they needed, that's the one James asked me to write first. The script was probably on a second draft, and they were in preproduction, so I came in quite late. And the way they were doing it was, they got 100s of demos submitted from all sorts of songwriters, and surprisingly - even though they got some really great people to do demos - people weren't quite hitting the right tone. The Muppet tone. I'd just come off the Conchords tour and I had some time, and James asked if I was interested in doing that opening song, because he had a kind of specific thing he needed from that song. He needed it to be really Muppet-y, that song, and he had a great idea for the whole town joining in, it starting off small and becoming a big musical number, and that came together really well. PS: Is this experience maybe something you want to bring to a Flight of the Conchords movie? BM: Yeah, exactly. Having done this movie now, we're in a much better place to do a Conchords film, because James is more experienced - well, we're all more experienced. Not specifically, but James Bobin - well, we're all very keen to do another studio musical, because I really enjoyed being able to do comedy musical numbers on such a grand scale, and I think next time, I really think it will just get better and better. Because it's such a fun genre, and we've done like 50 songs for TV now, and now The Muppets movie, and I feel like we've accidentally sort of become musical comedy experts. PS: What do you imagine Bret and Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords are up to these days, in their universe? BM: In the Lower East Side? That's a good question. I reckon they probably got a regular gig now. Like, at a Chinese restaurant. Photo courtesy Disney

Why Did Susan G. Komen For the Cure Cut Off Funding to Planned Parenthood?

Annie Scudder — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:20:58 PST

For years Susan G. Komen for the Cure has provided Planned Parenthood grants for breast cancer screenings. It recently decided to cut off the women's health provider, causing outrage among many supporters of both groups. Petitions to Komen to change its mind have been circulating on Facebook and across the Internet.

After Komen's decision became public, Planned Parenthood told supporters that "after facing pressure from anti-women's health political organizations, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation has announced that it is ending future funding for lifesaving breast cancer screenings and breast health education at Planned Parenthood health centers." Supporters know Planned Parenthood provides crucial services besides abortion, and critics of Komen's choice to stop funding assert the irony of cutting off life-saving cancer screenings to show you're pro-life.

As evidence that the decision was politically motivated, women's health activists could point to a recent backlash against Komen from the Evangelical Christian group LifeWay. LifeWay was selling pink Bibles to benefit Komen, when it discovered the breast cancer group gave money to Planned Parenthood. LifeWay immediately pulled the Bibles, getting the attention of pro-life activists. In addition, Komen's founder and CEO, Nancy G. Brinker, is a longtime Republican with ties to the Bush family, and the foundation's newly hired vice president is a former politician with known pro-life positions. Also, Komen cited a controversial investigation of Planned Parenthood in Congress started by a staunchly pro-life member.

Even so, Susan G. Komen's founder and CEO maintained its decision to not fund organizations under investigation is part of a broad effort to reorganize donations and make them more efficient. See Susan G. Komen for the Cure's Nancy G. Brinker explain the foundation's decision below.

4 Panoramic Apps to Stretch Photos To the Limit

Kelly Schwarze — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:30:22 PST

Ahhh, the Grand Canyon, an awe-inspiring wonder that begs to be photographed. One problem: the whole "grand" part; there's certainly a lot of canyon to capture. Record all the majesty of nature without missing a single speck by arming your phone with a bevy of panoramic camera apps. An effect you once haphazardly stitched together in a photo editing program is now achieved in seconds with these four panorama apps you should never start a vacation without.

AutoStitch ($2) - Using the traditional format of snapping multiple photos of a space - rather than the gyroscope setting used in the below three apps - allows this app to create hi-res images up to 18 MP. Stitch up to 40 images together for a stunning final panorama.
360 Panorama ($1) - In addition to quickly stitching photos, photos on this app are automatically uploaded into a your personal account on the 360 Panorama website, making them accessible anywhere, at any time.

Discover two more

Shhh! 5 Secrets Hiring Managers Aren't Telling You

Emily Co — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 05:00:31 PDT

Job hunters get the short end of the stick during interviews - the hiring managers hold all the cards, and if you don't get the job, you're left wondering why. Sometimes going over the interviews countless times can be frustrating and will harm rather than help. Instead of beating yourself up over a job you didn't get, use it as a chance to hone your interviewing skills for the other available job positions. A friend of mine, who helps with the hiring process at her company, recently shared some of her interviewing experiences with me. Here are some secrets that interviewers are holding back from you:

It takes 10 minutes. It's sad but true. Most employers have already decided in their minds within the first ten minutes if you're a no-go or if you have potential. The first few minutes are very crucial so be sure you follow good interview protocol, such as arriving early for the interview, but not too early, dressing for the part, and showing enthusiasm.
You'll get a generic rejection response. They won't really tell you the real reason you didn't get the job, because it's just customary not to. They may be too polite to tell you that you actually don't listen very well and cut in when they're still talking, or maybe your answers don't seem very genuine. It's not likely that you'll find out exactly what you did wrong from them so it's important to find out on your own. You can perhaps do this through mock interviews with your friends. If you've already been doing that with your peers before the interview, try a new set of people to practice interviewing with. They might give you different feedback.

Read on for more secrets hiring managers won't tell you.

Top 10 Signs It's Time For a New Personal Trainer

Jenny Sugar — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:25:17 PST

If you're spending $50 or more for a session with a personal trainer, they better be awesome at motivating you to get a great workout and reach your fitness goals. But if they're not helping you hit those goals, here are some telltale signs that it's time to find a new one.

You struggle to get through 20 push-ups, and your trainer gets on the floor and says, "Watch how fast I can do 20!"
Your trainer is supposed to be helping you work your upper body by tossing the ole medicine ball, but you catch them winking at a fellow trainer as they launch the 15-pound ball at your face.
You're not sure if they forget to wear deodorant or wash their workout clothes, but every time they reach their arms up to show you a move, you get an overpowering and nauseating whiff of funk.
Your trainer doesn't talk much, but when she does, it's, "Just do what I do. I have to fit my workout in sometime."
In the middle of counting reps while doing crunches, your trainer starts throwing out what seems like random numbers. You look at him puzzled. His response? "That's my phone number. Call me."

Keep on reading for more signs that it's time for a new personal trainer.