BNGIowa

Be the 'Passive Job Seeker'

I recently read an article by Dana Mattioli, a journalist for the Wall Street Journal. Her article talks about employers that are hiring (the few that are) prefer employed candidates (the increasingly fewer population) over unemployed candidates (the ever increasing population). She even states that many employers will not fill a position until they find the right passive candidate. The passive candidate is an employee that is currently working but not actively seeking a job.

The notion that unemployed candidates are being overlooked because they are unemployed is mind boggling. But if you think about it the strategy makes sense. Employed candidates (ESPECIALLY THOSE IN SR. POSITIONS) have to be the cream of the crop in their profession, hence the reason they are still working, these are the individuals who effectively managed their departments through tough, and uncertain economic times. If you compare the situation to pro sports, in most cases the MVP's, top notch athletes typically have their team vying for a championship, when their contract ends they always seem to be the most sought after player. The same is true for employed candidates.

For the unemployed, this new recruiting strategy just added another obstacle in finding a job in today's tough job market, however there still is hope. Here are a few tips:

-Prove that your recent termination was due to economic indicators not based on performance

-Have strong letters of recommendation from your previous employer, keep a strong list of references

-Be flexible with your salary requirements and job title

Check out Dana Mattioli's article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203872404574257983795638374.html

Better Late than Never

I was pretty irritated by the customer service I received from a company. I didn't think I would hear back from them at all, but I finally did. What went right? I asked for a specific remedy (please send replacement batteries) and I was persistent. Maybe the company saw my blog or maybe they were just slow to respond, but they finally did. So better late than never. I am taking them off my "do not work with" list.

Update: The remedy didn't work. The company did not send enough batteries and the ones they sent didn't make the light work. I think I will toss the lights out. At least this wasn't an really expensive purchase. Customer service matters all the time, even on the smallest purchase.

Electronic Filing - Welcome to the Present!

Most taxpayers and tax preparers this year will use IRS e-file to file their tax returns or get extensions of time to file. During this process, they will not have to send a single scrap of paper to the Internal Revenue Service.

The IRS expects the total number of individual tax returns, both electronic and paper, to reach about 140 million in 2009. And it expects e-file returns to exceed last year’s record of nearly 90 million taxpayers.

E-filers enjoy these benefits:

• Faster refunds. With IRS e-file, taxpayers get refunds in half the time it takes to file a paper tax return and receive a refund check. E-filers who choose direct deposit can receive their refund in as few as 10 days.
• Paperless. A taxpayer eliminates paperwork by creating his or her own Personal Identification Number (PIN) and filing a paperless return using tax preparation software or a tax professional. There is nothing to mail to the IRS. Some accounting firms are beginning to add a surcharge to their fees when being requested to paper file a tax return instead of e-filing.
• File now, pay later options. Taxpayers can file early and pay later by scheduling an electronic funds withdrawal any time through April 15, 2009. Taxpayers can also pay by credit or debit card when they e-file their returns. By enrolling in the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), taxpayers can make all federal tax payments online or by phone.
• More accurate returns. In addition to the error checks built into return preparation software, additional checks are done during the transmission of software enabled e-file returns. These checks reduce the chance a taxpayer will receive an error letter from the IRS.
• Quick electronic confirmation. E-filers are notified that their returns have been received.
• Convenient Federal/State e-filing. Taxpayers in 37 states and the District of Columbia can e-file their federal and state tax returns in one transmission to the IRS. The IRS forwards the state data to the appropriate state tax agency. In 2008, 46 million taxpayers filed federal-state electronic returns in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

E-file is available from Jan. 16, 2009 through Oct. 15, 2009.

For more information on this topic, contact Brent McClure at bmcclure@kiesling.com.

What a nightmare!

Am I making the right decision?  Is it too small?  Did I pay too much?  Am I in the right neighborhood?  I asked myself these questions over and over again, as I recently purchased my very first home.  Many of you may know that the entire home buying experience puts some stress on even the sanest individuals.  A great deal of thought, time, and effort goes into finding and securing the perfect place.  Someone told me at the beginning of my house hunt that purchasing a home would be one of the most emotional decisions I would ever make.  I thought they were crazy until I got knee-deep into the process.  Let’s just say, I’m not a very emotional person, but I have cried on more than one occasion throughout this ordeal.  In order to keep me as sane as possible, I hired two separate so-called professionals to ensure home buying success.  I also came out of this experience with two separate satisfaction levels.  On one hand, my realtor was a first time home buyer’s dream.  She constantly communicated with me so I was always aware of where we were in the process.  I never had to be concerned with what-to-do-when because my realtor already had it done.  She made the process smooth and easy.  However, on the other end was my mortgage broker.  He was unorganized, unknowledgeable, and continued to make promises that he did not keep.  His lack of professionalism was truly nightmarish.  It made me realize how important hiring a true professional is worth.  The same concept applies to your meetings, events and parties.  Trying to plan one of these events can also quickly turn into a nightmare if you are working with the wrong people.  That is why I do what I do.  When you hold your event with me and my associates at the Holiday Inn Downtown Des Moines at Mercy Campus, you can be assured you will be working with true professionals.

Photo compliments of Flickr.com.

Finding "The Right Fit"

This past weekend I visited my friends in Iowa City. On my way back to Des Moines, I stopped at the Tanger Outlet Mall in Williamsburg, Iowa. If you are fairly new to central Iowa, or you have been a long time resident and never been to the Tanger Outlet mall I strongly suggest you go, the mall features name brand clothing at discounted prices and can help any budget, especially for school shopping.

Typically when I go shopping, I rarely try any clothes on at the store, I know my pant size and shirt size to the t. But since I was in Williamsburg, (roughly 80-90 miles east of Des Moines), I decided it would be in my best interest to try on the pants I was going to purchase.

Unfortunately they didn't fit, and I didn't find the pants I was looking for (sorry Tanger Outlet Mall). On the way back home I did some calculations if I was to take my traditional shopping approach, $50 for the pants, $30 for gas to get there, $30 for gas to get back= $110, in addition to the time needed for travel; all to return a pair of pants that I should have tried on at the store. Truthfully, the shopping bag would have sat in my room, or in my car or even worse get lost, I would probably be out $50. 

In today's world, businesses take similar approaches in filling vacant positions. Time and money is spent on the job advertisement, time and money is spent on scanning through resumes and applications, time and money is spent on skills testing and screening, all leading up to the critical "first day" for the new employee. After a few weeks one of two scenarios occur: A- the employee works well or  B- the employee isn't "the right fit"  and all that time and money spent on filling a vacant position is lost, and the position still remains vacant.

SOS Staffing specializes in ensuring "the right fit" between employer and employee. Our main goal is "Uniting Talent with Opportunity." We accomplish this through a variety of steps and procedures:

¨      Familiarity with the company

¨      We do the job- this ensures the right match of applicant to skill

¨      Advertise and recruit for the vacant position

¨      Skill test and reference check qualified candidates

Our services save your business time and money, best of all our service comes with a guarantee.

If your company is in need of "the right fit" please visit our website: www.sosstaffing.com

Victor Kennedy

Branch Manager

SOS Staffing Services

515-331-0615-t ext 100

kenned@sosstaffing.com

Economic Stimulus Act of 2008

On February 7^th, 2008, both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. President Bush is expected to sign the Act on February 13th. While the highlight of the Act is the receipt of rebate checks by eligible individuals in 2008, businesses also benefit.     

New Rebate

Eligible individuals will receive a basic rebate equal to the greater of:

1)      Net income tax liability up to a maximum of $600 ($1,200 for a joint return); or

2)      $300 ($600 for a joint return) if either

a)      The taxpayer’s qualified income is at least $3,000; or

b)      Net income tax liability is at least $1 and gross income is greater than the sum of

                                                              i.      Applicable standard deduction amount and

                                                            ii.      One personal exemption (two personal exemptions for a joint return)

In general, qualified income is earned income, veteran’s disability payments, and social security benefits. There will be an additional $300 per-child (under the age of 17) credit amount. The amount of the rebate (both the basic and the child’s amount) phases out at a rate of 5% of adjusted gross income (AGI) above $75,000 for individuals ($150,000 for joint returns). The rebate will not be available if an individual’s tax return does not include valid identification numbers, such as social security numbers.

Asset Expense Election

For tax years beginning in 2008, the Act increases the section 179 expensing election limit to $250,000, and boosts the overall investment limit from $510,000 to $800,000. A business that places in service in a taxable year beginning in 2008 depreciable tangible personal property, including off-the-shelf software, used in the active trade or business may elect the section 179 expensing election. The $250,000 maximum amount that can be expensed is reduced dollar-for-dollar if qualifying property in excess of $800,000 is placed in service in a taxable year beginning in 2008. For taxable years beginning in 2009 and thereafter, the prior limitation amounts under section 179 continue to apply. 

Bonus Depreciation

For both the regular tax and the alternative minimum tax (AMT), the Act generally permits a bonus first-year depreciation deduction of 50% of the adjusted basis of qualified property acquired and placed in service after December 31, 2007 and before January 1, 2009. In general, property eligible for bonus depreciation consists of:

1)      Tangible property with a recovery period not exceeding 20 years;

2)      Purchased computer software;

3)      Water utility property; and

4)      Qualified leasehold improvement property.

This portion of the Act mirrors the section 168(k) bonus depreciation placed in effect for qualified property placed in service after 9/11. 

If you have any questions about this Act please contact Brent McClure at Kiesling Associates.

1099 Filing Requirements

The 1099 filing season is here!

1099 information returns are due by January 31^st.  Two common types of the 1099 are a 1099-MISC and a 1099-DIV.  A 1099-MISC is required for payment for services of at least $600 to individuals and other businesses, excluding corporations.  Common examples of these payments include director fees, payments to a deceased employee’s estate, or attorney fees.  A 1099-DIV is required for all dividend payments of at least $10.  Cooperative patronage distributions are considered a return of margins and not dividends and should follow the 1099-MISC rules.  Payments to stockholders for stock repurchase are not required to be reported on a 1099.

The 1099’s are due to the payee by January 31^st.  If filing the 1099’s using paper copies they are due to the IRS by February 28^th.  If done through electronic means an extension is given until March 31^st.  Those companies filing 250 or more information returns are required to file electronically and others are encouraged to do so.

The IRS requires all 1099’s to be filed with the payee’s taxpayer identification number or social security number.  In cases where the payee has not provided their number, has provided an obviously incorrect number, or the IRS has notified the company of an invalid ID, backup withholding is required at a rate of 28%.

As usual with the IRS, failure to follow the guidelines can result in penalties to the company.  If you have any questions please contact Brent McClure at Kiesling Associates.

Networking

I think my favorite networking events are ones with food. I like door prizes and drawings too, but if I don't win, then that isn't much fun. So I would have to say food is my big attraction.

I belong to the Urbandale Chamber of Commerce and we meet once a month for what is called the AM Exchange. It is at 7:30 in the morning. There is food. Breakfast type food. One time there was "breakfast pizza." I was a little skeptical about that, but it was delicious. The format for the event is eat, network and then introduce yourself in 30 seconds. It works pretty well and has resulted in business for me.

AOL Small Business had an interesting article about networking online. I think it applies to in person networking too. My favorite quote from the article is: "You need to give something to the community before you start looking for an ROI [return on investment]," says Key of Converseon. The main points of the article were: 1. Forget the hard sell. 2. Do your homework. 3. Focus on a few contacts. 4. Listen before you speak. 5. Authenticity counts. 6. Be engaging. 7. Always follow up. 8. Think long term.

Happy Networking!

Career Day

In addition to my business as an independent consultant with Arbonne International, I am a graphic designer. I have had my own business since the early 70's.

I don't know if I would be a graphic designer if it had not been for Career Day at my high school. I liked to draw as a very small child. I took art classes throughout school. I was told I had talent. But I was a good student and had lots of other talents too.

On Career Day, I was introduced to Lant Elrod. He was a "commercial artist." He showed his portfolio. I liked what I saw and decided I should do what he did.

So when the Urbandale Chamber of Commerce sent out a request for volunteers to talk at the high school for Career Day, I volunteered. The next day, I started to have regrets. What would I talk about for 40 minutes? I heard kids these days are pretty rude, would they even want to listen to me?

The students were allowed to sign up for what ever sessions they wanted. The first group of students was mostly girls. The next group was about half girls and half boys. The last group was mostly boys. It seemed to me that they self-segregated. But then, when given a choice, I guess we gravitate to people who are similar to us.

In one group, two girls who sat in the back row and whispered to each other. There was one boy who was just plain obnoxious. He sat in the back and the other students just ignored him. I suppose they learn how to deal with distractions. Other than that, I was impressed with the young people. They participated in discussions about design preferences. They asked good questions. With the mostly boys group, I led a pretty good discussion about what sports team has the best logo.

I told them they need to be good at drawing, creative thinkers, honest, and meet deadlines. I hope I got them thinking about the design that is all around them. I wonder if I made any impact?

I gave away some posters from the Art Directors Association of Iowa 50th Anniversary. I remember getting an original illustration from Frank Miller when I was in high school. It was a big moment for me. I still have it. I wonder if any of the posters I gave out will be saved for over 30 years?