Alaant Advisor: Work Burnout, Never Apologize, No Degree Jobs, the Hiring Rush and more!

Alaant Influencers feature regional influencers and local luminaries sharing their career advice and secrets to success—in their own words. These influencers are the people making a powerful impact for good across the community. A native New Yorker, Janack began his career as a television and radio journalist…

Working too hard is now a recognized as an occupational phenomenon, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The agency, which guides many health providers and organizations, now includes "burnout" in its International Classification of Diseases Handbook. The agency described "burnout" as a syndrome resulting from "chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed."…

Ian Sohn, president of creative tech agency Wunderman Chicago, has a few choice words for employees who eschew work for other responsibilities. In an open letter that’s going viral, Sohn tells his employees that he “never” wants them to “apologize for having lives.” “I never need to know you’ll be in late because of a dentist appointment — or that you’re leaving early for your kid’s soccer game,” he writes in the LinkedIn post that’s received nearly 19,000 likes…

Those seeking a job in today's labor market might think a four-year degree is necessary for obtaining a well-paying job. It's a common resume attribute after all. However, there are several strong opportunities for those with a high-school diploma or associates degree, especially those who obtain on-the-job training, or specialty certificates in certain fields. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are nearly 20 job titles which pay…

If mothers and fathers speak openly about child-care obligations, their colleagues will adapt. I’m an economist. I love data and evidence. I love them so much that I write books about data-based parenting. When questions arise about how to support parents at work (for example, from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter), my first impulse is to endorse paid parental leave. Mountains of data and evidence show that paid leave is good for children’s health, and for mothers in particular. I am more than comfortable making a data-based case for this policy…

The answer to “How hard is finding a job?” depends on who you ask. Everything about 2019 has pointed back to a booming economy, from the fact that there are more job openings than workers to fill them to the recent round of IPO announcements in Silicon Valley. Last year, Jobvite found that recruiting had hit it’s tipping point, forcing recruiters into unknown territories like the depths of social media and text messaging to find new talent and reach the candidates…