Top Jobs for College Graduates

CollegeRecruiter.com just posted a list of the top job opportunities for the Class of '09. Please follow the link below and see if any of these are possible opportunities for you or someone you know who just recently finished school.

Top Jobs for College Graduating Class of 2009

New COBRA Legislation in Missouri

In June 2009, the Missouri House Bill 231 was passed, which requires all Missouri employers to follow federal Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act (COBRA) guidelines. COBRA gives workers and their families who lose their health benefits the right to choose to continue group health benefits provided by their group health plan for limited periods of time under certain circumstances such as voluntary or involuntary job loss, reduction in the hours worked, transition between jobs, death, divorce, and other life events.

What does this all mean?
For employers that offer health care
Prior to the passing of HB 231, Missouri employers that had less than 20 employees were not required to comply with federal COBRA rules/regulations. HB 231 now requires all employers, no matter how many employees, to comply with COBRA regulations. Employers can charge up to 102% in premiums for employees who elect COBRA

For employees who are on a company healthcare plan
Missouri employees who have health, dental or vision insurance through their employers have the right to choose Continuation Coverage when the employee loses coverage due to a reduction in hours of employment or termination of employment (other than gross misconduct).

COBRA has many other deadlines and regulations that still hold true, both for employers and employees. For a full explanation of COBRA and how it works, check out the U.S. Department of Labor website.

How We Can All Learn From Taylor Swift

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard snippets about the Kanye West-Taylor Swift incident at the MTV Video Music Awards ceremony this past Sunday evening. Obviously this was a very shocking/embarassing moment for the 17-year old to bounce back from. But it seems that (the aptly named) Swift has since moved on during an interview on "The View" yesterday. When asked if she had any hard feelings towards Kayne and his outburst, this was what Swift had to say:

"You know, I'm not going to say that I wasn't rattled about it, but I had to perform live five minutes later. So I had to get myself back to the place where I could perform... There were a lot of people that were around me backstage that were saying wonderful, incredible things and had my back... I just never imagined that there were that many people looking out for me."

Full interview here:


Besides being incredibly poised and mature (especially for a 17-year-old!), Taylor Swift has taught us some important life lessons. Her experience has shown us that:

1. Life is going to throw you curveballs, both in your personal and professional life. These kinds of situations are going to knock the wind out of you for a second, but the best way to deal with it is to pull yourself together and get on with whatever it is you need to do.

2. It helps when you have the support of friends, family and colleagues during a rough patch. Taylor Swift mentioned how much it surprised her to that so many fans and fellow artists had her back... and she's a gorgeous, famous country star! Therefore, it's important to reach out to your friends and family when you need them- many don't know what's going on in your life and would be happy to help or just serve as a shoulder to cry on.

3. Staying calm and having a good sense of humor about the whole situation pays off. Even when Kanye West stole the mic out of her hands and completely dissed Taylor Swift, she behaved like a lady and kept her composure. And in her interview with The View, she never said anything bad about West or how inappropriate his outburst was. I'm sure her Manager/PR Rep helped her with this, but she seems to have handled herself well.

Whether you or someone you know has experienced a recent layoff, breakup, loss of a family member or something much worse, I hope that some of these lessons can be applied to your own life.

New Missouri Legislation- Data Security

As of August 2009, the State of Missouri became the 45th state to pass legislation that makes employers liable for any breach or violation of data security in their company's system. If any "personal information" (i.e., social security number, bank account number, health insurance information, etc.) is accessed by an unathorized third party, the company must notify everyone in their system AND will be financially liable for any damages done by the unathorized third party.

If your organization does not have a person/vendor dedicated to the issue of data security (and I'm guessing there are a few places out there that aren't 100% secure), SSI recommends that you attend the Sept 24 seminar with FBI Cybercrime specialist, Rubin Lopez. This breakfast meeting is affordable ($20) and won't interfere with your work schedule.

To view the breakfast meeting invite, click here

For more information on the new legislation, click here

How Volunteering Can Lead to Employment- True Story

One of our applicants sent us an email today, overjoyed that she found a job. Here's her story:

"I have a job!!!!!

I am to start on Monday September 14th as an office support/admin assistant.The job duties are still being decided as they are taking 3 positions and re-dividing them to make them work better.

I found this connection via volunteering at the Fenton Chamber of Commerce. They had a golf tourney on Monday and I was a volunteer. My "hole" was next to my soon-to-be employer's drink tent. Long story short, I am joining the working, they love me and I am more than ready!

Barb K."

Barb's new employer was obviously impressed with her as a volunteer- so much so that they eventually offered her a job! Just goes to show you that volunteering can lead to other great things in your life, including a job opportunity. Please keep Barb's story in mind when considering volunteering your time!

Happy Friday- Don't Be a Dumass

Happy Friday!

We haven't posted any video in awhile, so we thought this might be a funny way to start your weekend! Hope everyone enjoys the holiday and stays safe :)



Don't ever forget that it's important to remember your interviewer's name AND how it's pronounced...pretty important!

"But if I could just get in front of someone..."

If we had a nickel for every time an interested applicant said, "But if I could just get in front of someone and explain...", we would be rich! It's an understandable statement because everyone's resume and job history are unique and deserve some explanation. This is why SSI performs extensive screening of candidates, on the phone and in-person- we want to determine if our clients would find their background/experience acceptable.

In our screening of candidates, we have found that there are circumstances that are worth explaining to clients, while others are a lost cause. We would like to share with you some of these situations.

1) Getting Laid Off
We have spoken to a TON of applicants lately who have lost their job due to the economy. It's not shocking to our staff at all!

When this is OK
This is something we can easily explain this to a client- most understand.

When this is NOT OK
If we verify a person's employment and find that s/he has been terminated, rather than laid off.

2) Being Terminated
A little more difficult to explain, but we are open to listening to an applicant's story...and we've heard it all!

When this is OK
Not"fit" for the job or changes in management. Sometimes people just don't work out in a job situation- not because they're a bad person or did anything wrong. And it's a one-time situation, where the rest of their job history is great.

When this is NOT OK
Unacceptable reasons: violence against co-workers, failing to show up on time or drinking on the job. Or if an applicant tells us that s/he was laid off and we find out from the employer that they were terminated.

3) Inability to Obtain References
Due to strict company policy, many employers are unable to provide references for their former employees.

When this is OK
It's generally a struggle for us to obtain references from every single employer that our applicants provide. If we can get in touch with supervisors from your most recent positions (within the last 5 years), that's usually OK. There are times when co-worker references are acceptable, but we generally prefer to speak with a supervisor.

When this is NOT OK
If none of your former supervisors will call us back, that's a problem! We do not present candidates to clients if a majority of their references will not provide any info.

4) Spotty Job History
We have run across great applicants who, unfortunately, haven't had a steady job in awhile..."awhile" meaning the last year or two.

When this is OK
In this strange job market, it's not terribly unusual to run across applicants who were laid off in 2008 and have yet to find another job. There are also people who have steadily worked temporary jobs in the past year or two and haven't denoted it properly on their resume.

When this is NOT OK
Candidates who have jumped from job-to-job for the last 3+ years who have no explanation for why they left. These are often the same folks who are unable to obtain references (see above).

5) Meeting the Qualifications/Requirements for the Job
Applicants will often see a posting on our website and want to be considered for a particular opportunity- and it appears that they do not meet the requirements for the job.

When this is OK
A candidate might actually be qualified for the job, but his/her resume just needs to be re-done. Maybe they submitted their administrative resume when they should have submitted their marketing resume? Resumes can be revised, resubmitted and reconsidered for an opportunity.

When this is NOT OK
If a person just doesn't meet the requirements for a particular job, there's not much we can do. It doesn't matter how much that person wants this job, needs to be working or argues that s/he could do the job if given the proper training. At the end of the day, our job is to present qualified candidates to our clients.

Hopefully these explanations do not present SSI as mean or uncaring; rather, they are to provide insight as to how we take an indivdiual's circumstances into consideration when filling a job. We spend a great deal of time talking to our applicants and "digging deep" to determine if they are a match for our clients. When we can't present an applicant due to the circumstances listed above, it's upsetting to our team as well! In a perfect world, all job seekers would have a steady job history, great references and would never have gotten laid off in the downturn of 2008. Unfortunately, this is not the world we live in!

Volunteer Experience- Story from an Applicant

An applicant of ours recently reached out to the SSI team...we wanted to share with everyone!

"I just wanted to share with you my experience with vounteering. I received your newsletter and decided to call about an opportunity I saw on it. I contacted Junior Achievement and asked if they needed volunteers in the St. Charles area. She said they did and as a matter of fact and they needed them desperately.

I met with her that afternoon and picked up the materials for starting my first class. It was teaching 1st graders about helping families by volunteering to do things for them, and explaining the differences between needs and wants. I am on my second lesson and have a total of 5 to complete. I was very nervous at first and was worried about doing a bad job.

When I arrived to the first lesson, and introduced myself I went over the materials with the class, they were so excited. It made my experience of volunteering worthwhile. I enjoyed bringing joy into their lives and it blessed me too. Two of the students after the first class came up and one of them gave me a hug and the other one said; "You're a really good teacher". I just wanted to share this with all of you that I know it is tough out there and trying to find work! While volunteering doesn't pay us with a salary it pays far better in other areas! It builds your self esteem, it makes you realize the difference you can make in lives of others and it helps you realize that there is more to life than getting a paycheck! I strongly encourage everyone to volunteer in some capacity to enrich your life not to mention it enriches the lives of others!

Have a great day!
Saundra B"

We are so happy that Saundra had a great volunteer experience! Not only was she helping others, but she got a self-esteem boost- so important to those looking for a job right now! We wish her all the best in her future volunteer endeavors.