Are Men Paid More Than Women in the Work Place? Unfortunately So

The sad truth is that men are paid more than me. Based on the research conducted by Payscale. The explanation though is from the choice of careers - if you believe that. Of course, I would hope not - but more often than not, it is more common to see men who are software developers and construction managers.

What the infographic fails to take into account are women who work other types of jobs. Like those who work in Marketing, Information Technology, Graphic design, Sales and other types of management roles - the pay grades there may not be similar to the items below

People tend to segregate jobs and opportunities into gender biases. Unfortunately we are all prone to that.

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Top 15 CEO Salaries In The Philippines

It is my goal to make a monthly income in these range hopefully before my lifetime is over. But at the same time, I'd also like to be able to spend time with my family. Too much?

It is every applicant's goal to eventually earn enough to support family and loved ones. Whether via entrepreneurship or corporate slavery, the goal is self sufficiency if not outright wealth and fame.

But the key to any applicant is to get the job first. Be one of the best - top 3 below are Lopez, Zobel de Ayala and Cojuangco

Of Weaknesses, Salaries, Your Previous Job, The Next 5 Years, and Why You Should Be Hired?

Nicole Williams of Monster.com talks about five of the most difficult interview questions and gives us an idea of how to answer them. Hope this helps everybody. Read the original article here

1. What is your biggest weakness?

Questions like these, says Denham, are asked so that interviewees admit a weakness that justifies their being shown the door. He recommends responding with: “I have a tendency to say yes and get overcommitted.” Then follow that with an example of how you are working on prioritizing and setting personal limits. Never draw negative attention to yourself by stating a weakness that would lead an employer to think you are not the best person for the job, Denham says. “The focus of your interview should be on your strengths,” he says.

2. What salary do you think you deserve?

“The person who states the salary is the loser,” says Denham, explaining that if you are the first to throw out a number, the number you give could be less than what the employer was planning to pay. Wait for the employer to give a range, and when it does ask you for a figure you expect to be making, choose a salary that is higher than the median they provide. Use online tools and resources to find out what you can realistically expect. Also, don’t talk salary on the first interview.

3. Why should I hire you?

For this one, Denham says it’s important to prepare before the interview. “Go back to your resume and look through it for the three to five things that make you outstanding,” he says. These qualities should accent your work ability, like “I’m a hard worker” or “I get things done.” You have to demonstrate a track record of results. “The notion is that past performance is always the best predictor of future performance,” Denham says.

4. What didn’t you like about your last job?

The employer who asks this question could be looking for you to answer with something that would indicate a weakness of yours, once again in an attempt to eliminate you. So while it may be tempting to trash your boss or complain about the hours (they expected me to be in at 8 a.m.!), try answering with something like this: “I did not feel my responsibilities were challenging enough.” Then the employer will feel confident that you are ready for whatever they may throw at you.

5. Where do you see yourself in three to five years?

The worst answer you can provide to this one, Denham says, is “I have no idea,” even though that might be the truth. “It’s basically like saying, ‘I have no idea what I’m doing with my life and I have no idea how long I’ll stay with this job,’” Denham says. Try a response like “I’ve done a lot of self-assessment, and what I’ve learned about myself is that I want to make a commitment to this career and I want to build my career here.”

Things You Probably Didn't Know About The IT Job

Everyone's into IT these days. And why not? They pay's good, the job is in demand and it's the wave of the future. But of course we still hear complaints all around because despite the high pay and the high profile and advanced technology, there are still a lot of down-sides to the IT job.

Here's an article from ZD Net that discusses if the best IT job exists

Even though being a systems engineer nets you what has been deemed the best job in the United States, recruitment experts in Singapore point to the ups and downs of being an IT professional.

Earlier this month, a study conducted by Focus.com ranked being a systems engineer as the best job in the U.S., ahead of other professions including physician assistant, college professor and nurse practitioner.

While local experts ZDNet Asia contacted were unable to pin down a specific IT role that should be the most sought after in Asia, they did offer some thoughts as to the pull and push of various industry positions, based on indicators such as remuneration, work hours and job security.

Demand for role and job security

The good: Tay Kok Choon, head of strategic sales development at JobStreet.com Singapore, told ZDNet Asia in an e-mail that the general demand for IT skills remains "very high". This, he explained, is because aside from traditional application development, many industries such as healthcare depend on IT professionals to improve their customer care and services.

Brian Richards, who heads Kelly Services' IT resources business unit, also noted that those in "hard-core" technical roles or who have specialized skills tend to be recession-proof. "For example, deploying top talent [to develop] efficient applications and provide effective support for systems would be even more important during a downturn when dollars and cents and productivity are closely scrutinized," he said in an e-mail.

The ugly: The more "generic" skills, such as project management, tend to be vulnerable during an economic downturn, added Richards.

Pay, perks and progression

The good: According to Richards, IT jobs within the financial services and IT consulting sectors tend to accord higher salaries, even though bonuses in these verticals saw a "noticeable dip" in 2009 due to the economic slowdown.

Perks and incentives, he said, tend to be higher in specialist areas such as information security, as skill sets are not readily available but nonetheless critical. Another group that receives better perks is senior project or program managers whose roles have a direct impact on business operations.

IT candidates, Richards added, can "pursue careers purely along the technical path, eventually moving into middle- to higher-level positions such as IT director, CIO and CTO, regardless of whether they come from support, infrastructure or application development backgrounds". They may also broaden their experience by taking on "hybrid" roles that require technical skills as well as functional, domain or business experience. Such expertise could eventually lead them to assume senior positions such as COO.

According to Robert Walters' Global Salary Survey 2010 released in February, there will be upward salary adjustments for several IT positions in Singapore this year. The designations include IT risk and compliance director whose salary range is expected to be from S$160,000 (US$113,840) to S$280,000 (US$199,220), up from S$150,000 (US$106,725) to S$250,000 (US$177,875) in 2009. Service delivery managers can also look forward to remuneration of S$130,000 (US$92,495) to S$160,000 (US$113,840) in 2010, an improvement over S$120,000 (US$85,380) to S$140,000 (US$99,610) last year.

When it comes to contract positions, Axer Goh, Robert Walters' manager for IT contract division, said IT specialist roles are the most highly paid in Asia. Those in these roles also have the luxury of selecting projects and working in a new environment with every assignment.

JobStreet.com's Tay noted that many IT roles have a regional responsibility which allow employees to develop softer skills, such as managing cultural and solutions diversity.

The ugly: Robert Walters' Global Salary Survey 2010 stated that roles including director for service delivery, EAI (enterprise application integration) middleware specialist and software engineer can expect to see their maximum salary dip by about S$10,000 to S$20,000. No reasons were given for this forecast decline.

Working hours

The good: Kelly Services' Richards said non-IT support roles tend to operate within office hours, even though the average number of hours worked a day is around 10 to 12.

The ugly: "Occupational hazards" of IT professionals, he noted, revolve around work hours. Firstly, tight timelines and thin budgets typically call for IT professionals to clock longer hours and face tighter timelines than their counterparts in business roles. Major IT systems implementations also typically happen during non-working hours over weekdays, weekends and public holidays so as to minimize business downtime.

IT support jobs also tend to incorporate shifts due to the "follow the sun" nature of system support roles in global organizations, added Richards.

JobStreet.com's Tay pointed out that IT professionals need to be not only fast, but also thorough in their work. "The QA (qualitative analysis) process that was deemed applicable traditionally may no longer be sufficient in today's context. An IT professional needs to stay alert [and] be passionate about his role to reduce incidents of mishap," he said.

Top 3 Reasons Why People Change Jobs

I recently just changed jobs. I was paid ridiculously high and was quite comfortable where I was but I realized that though I was not unhappy, it felt like something was missing. And so I made the jump. It got me thinking, why do people switch jobs? Here's my top 3

1. People switch jobs for more money! Of course that is the obvious choice. We want more money and we need more money with the inflation and living conditions being what they are. That is a given
2. People switch jobs for better career positioning. Everyone wants to move up in life. If another position is open that offers advancement from the status quo then why not right?
3. People switch jobs because they are dissatisfied. This is my reason because I was definitely paid more by my previous employer - double in fact than what I'm getting now for the same position. My parents just shake their heads at the thought of not being able to enjoy that kind of money anymore. But it's the better choice I think.
   

I was dissatisfied because I felt I could learn more. I was dissatisfied because I felt I could do more if I were directed and mentored in the way that I realized could never be done by my current employer. And that is why I left.

But just so we have a moral to this story: although we think that we should be paid a premium for the amount and quality of work that we do, we should still look out for our own personal satisfaction. I couldn't imagine going to work everyday and being so miserable.

Why are young Filipinos going abroad to find work?

Young Filipinos go abroad to find jobs because many think there's more money to make out there. Aside from that you also get the following perks:

• Adventure - you get to live somewhere else FAR away from parents and relatives who just love to tell you what to do with you life. It's the ultimate adventure
  
• Independence - along with the feeling of getting away from it all, there's also the reverberating exuberance of making and spending your own hard-earned money. And it's not just any money - it's foreign currency!
• Compensation - of course the last bet, everybody else is paid higher. Let's make an example of Call center agents since there are so many of them floating around these days.

  • Call center agents get a starting salary of P15,000, but many are being recruited in Singapore to receive at least three times their salaries here.
  • A separate study by IT publication ZDNet Asia says the average annual salary of senior IT professionals in the Philippines is $12,425 year. That is the equivalent of P521,850 at the exchange rate of 42 pesos to the dollar, but it’s still lower than $44,858 in Singapore, $57,303 in Hong Kong, and $76,851 in Australia.
  • Even coffee shop workers earn as much as $2,500 Singaporean out there, which beats a decent hard-working IT professional in the Philippines these days. That's tough, specially with prices rising as they are

Of course, the problem isn't the same for us simple folk who already have families and responsibilities here. It's more difficult to move abroad - for me specifically. I respect those who choose to go elsewhere for opportunity, but mine is here... with my daughter. I just hope I don't end up leaving her for money soon too.

Brain Drain In The Philippines

I read in a local newspaper article that many companies think the Philippines is going through some pretty major "brain drain."

And why not? Prices are high, salaries are the same. People can't be expected to stay for that. I should know I got an offer from Dubai that was pretty good. For a staff position, the salary I was offered almost matched the rate I'm getting now as management.

Now if a staff member there earns almost the same as a manager here, you'd probably notice what a big discrepancy that would be for the same position. Of course I'm not familiar with their cost of living there - it can't be much better than here I guess with the global economy acting up as it is.

There have been more than 50,000 healthcare workers (nurses, doctors and therapists) who have left the country and I don't disagree with them leaving but those of us left here are rather at a loss now aren't we?

Anyway that's not all, more and more workers are opting to take refuge abroad than be stuck here in the Philippines. I for one, would rather stay. I really like it here but sometimes it just can't be helped when you think about the opportunities out there...

We need better paying jobs. Salaries that can actually pay for rising expenses. Allowances that are non-taxable. For Filipino workers to actually stay in the Philippines, there has to be the same opportunity here than there is abroad. That is how to stop the brain drain