Thursday, March 19, 2020

Essential Stats for Aspiring Executive Assistants!

Essential Stats for Aspiring Executive Assistants! The folks at CareerStep have pulled together some highlights from the Bureau of Labor Statisticss most recent report on executive assistants: where theyre most likely to be employed, where their wages are most competitive, and what those competitive rates are likely to be.Where to LookIf youre just entering the industry and want to make sure youre targeting the most promising opportunities, consider looking at colleges, universities, and professional schools (the highest employing industry!) in top paying states: New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. Other industries in the top 5 included local and state governments, corporate employers, and elementary and secondary schools.Highest Earning IndustriesIf your eye is on the hourly wage prize, though, consider pursuing opportunities at alcohol vendors (where the mean hourly wage $35.02!), telecommunications industries ($34.14), securities and commodity exchanges aka Wall Street ($33.16), banking and f inancial analysis companies ($32.89), and clothing and wholesale vendors ($32.22).These average rates should also help you detect underpaid (and potentially exploitative) job postings and empower you to negotiate for more competitive rates, especially if you work in one of the more competitive states like California, New York, Texas, Florida, or Illinois.Check out more statistics in the full report on the BLS.gov website or explore wage comparison profiles at Glassdoor.com to figure out what you should be making as an executive assistant!Executive Assistant Job Outlook and Stats!Read More at www.careerstep.com

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Behavioral Science in the Armed Forces

Behavioral Science in the Armed Forces Military sociology is the sociological study of the military. It examines issues such as military recruiting, race and gender representation in the military, combat, military families, military social organization, war and peace, and the military as welfare. Military sociology is a relatively minor subfield within the field of sociology. There are few universities that offer courses on military sociology, and only a handful of academic professionals that conduct research and/or write about military sociology. In recent years, most of the studies that can be classified as military sociology have been done by private research institutes or in military agencies, such as the Rand Corporation, the Brookings Institute, the Human Resources Research Organization, the Army Research Institute, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Furthermore, the research teams that conduct these studies are generally interdisciplinary, with researchers from sociology, psychology, political science, economics, and business. This by no means implies that military sociology is a small field. The military is the largest single government agency in the U.S. and the issues addressed surrounding it can have important ramifications for both military policy and the development of sociology as a discipline. The Basis of Service One of the most significant issues in military sociology in the U.S. post-World War II is the shift from drafting to voluntary service. This was a huge change and one whose impact at the time was unknown. Sociologists were and still are interested in how this change affected society, who the individuals were who entered the military voluntarily and why, and whether this change affected the representativeness of the military (for example, are there more uneducated minorities who enter voluntarily than were selected in the draft)? Social Representation and Access Social representation refers to the degree to which the military represents the population from which it has been drawn. Sociologists are interested in who is being represented, why the misrepresentations exist, and how representativeness has changed throughout history. For example, in the Vietnam War era, some civil rights leaders alleged that African Americans were overrepresented in the armed forces and therefore accounted for an unfair amount of casualties. Gender representation also developed as a major concern during the women’s rights movement, generating major policy changes concerning the participation of women in the military. In more recent years, when President Bill Clinton overturned the military ban on gays and lesbians, sexual orientation became the focus of major military policy debate for the first time. This topic has come into the spotlight once again after President Barack Obama repealed the Don’t ask, don’t tell policy so that gays and lesbia ns can now serve openly in the military. Sociology of Combat The study of the sociology of combat deals with the social processes involved in combat units. For example, researchers often study unit cohesion and morale, leader-troop relations, and motivation for combat. Family Issues The proportion of military personnel who are married has increased greatly over the past fifty years, which means there are also more families and family concerns represented in the military. Sociologists are interested in looking at family policy issues, such as the role and rights of military spouses and the issue of child-care when single-parent military members are deployed. Sociologists are also interested in military benefits related to families, like housing improvements, medical insurance, overseas schools, and child care, and how they impact both the families and the larger society. The Military as Welfare Some people argue that one of the military’s roles is to provide the opportunity for occupational and educational advancement to the less advantaged in society. Sociologists are interested in looking at this role of the military, who takes advantage of the opportunities, and whether the training and experience of the military offer any advantages compared to civilian experiences. Social Organization The organization of the military has changed in many ways over the past several decades – from the draft to voluntary enlistment, from combat-intensive jobs to technical and support jobs, and from leadership to rational management. Some people argue that the military is changing from an institution legitimized by normative values to an occupation legitimized by a market orientation. Sociologists are interested in studying these organizational changes and how they impact both those in the military and the rest of society. War and Peace For some, the military is immediately associated with war, and sociologists are certainly interested in examining different aspects of war. For example, what are the consequences of war for societal change? What are the sociological impacts of war, both at home and abroad? How does war lead to policy changes and shape the peace of a nation?