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BY HOLLY CULHANE Contributing columnist
Monday, May 14 2012 12:00 PM
While I was standing in the lobby of a local business, a young woman entered and approached the receptionist. She explained she was seeking a summer internship and was willing to do "anything" without the expectation of pay.
The receptionist instructed her to submit a letter of interest and her resume. From the response, it was obvious that the receptionist had received many internship requests.
Springtime is peak time for arranging summer jobs and internships. And with the market tight, college students need the extra edge of having experience when they compete for a job after graduation.
Still struggling in a soft economy, businesses may be tempted to add "unpaid interns" to save payroll costs.
But unpaid internships can present numerous legal hazards for businesses. That's not to say that businesses should "just say no" to unpaid internships. Federal and state laws do allow them in very limited situations.
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For about a year, I have been helping a 50ish Bakersfield man develop his retirement plan. A manager at a local company, the man and his wife divorced in 2008. As a result, his "family" income is greatly reduced and half of his savings went to his now ex-wife. He also is paying monthly support for his teenage daughter.
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Get involved in local business events.
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As you may have noted in the news, the banking industry is not exactly hurting for funds right now. Just last month, Bank of America reported a net income of $653 million for first quarter 2012. Banks are, however, taking in fees in different ways than they were last year -- thanks to Congressional legislation, which, among other things, limited debit card transaction fees and helped to protect consumers from unexpected overdraft charges. Also, it is more difficult for people like college students with no income who cannot afford credit cards to obtain them, resulting in lower intake of interest.
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Traditionally, business scaling deals with physical needs like personnel, real estate, equipment and management as the size of a business changes. With Internet commerce, the needs are similar, but the potential for growth is exponentially larger.
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Actor Nicolas Cage named his son Kal-El, which is, as everybody knows, Superman's birth name. The super-couple of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt named one of their many children Shiloh-Nouvel. Not to be outdone, pop star Gwen Stefani named her youngest son Zuma Nesta Rock. If you are thinking of giving your future children an original name that no one will forget, make sure it's one that people can at least pronounce lest you unwittingly sabotage their future success in employment.
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Many entrepreneurs treat the size of their business like a high-school athlete: They beef up for football, then scale back in other seasons. This parochial approach to business scaling can only offer incremental victories. Simply adding employees in a good economy or cutting back in bad times will never achieve the yield available by proper scaling. Business scaling is comparable to the nemesis on your bathroom floor, the bane of most music students, climbing a mountain and cleaning a fish.
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Couples often disagree about if and when they should retire from jobs that have maintained their lifestyles for decades. Shaping retirement as a transition into an "encore" career can be a reasonable compromise to help resolve these disputes.
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"The palest ink is better than the best memory."
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I was talking to a friend the other day about his new job. Being an investment advisor, I was interested in what type of retirement plan the job offered and his response was somewhat troubling. He said that he wasn't sure about the retirement plan but they did offer a discounted membership to a gym that he was excited about. At 26 years old, he is in a prime position to make a huge financial difference in his future but, like so many twenty-somethings, his concern was his physique over his financial future.
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The economy has been plodding along for four years. Business owners have slowed the pace of their operations to match the rhythm of the economy. The situation is similar to the way they used to play basketball. The teams would meticulously set up their offense and defense and hold or pass the ball on one side of the court, until someone had an open shot to score. The fast break was a game changer. One or two players bolted to their basket and scored before the opposition could set their defense. The strategy made higher scoring games and attracted more viewers.
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"Honesty is the best policy." This quote, attributed to Benjamin Franklin, is especially true when it comes to employment issues. The following employers learned that lesson the hard way.
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"It's free money!" That's what retailers want you to believe. But the truth is, your tax refund is not some generous gift from Uncle Sam. Instead, it consists of the hard-earned money that you overpaid in the previous tax year.
Bakersfield athlete killed in bicycle race
Armed man shot and killed by police in northwest Bakersfield apartment
