MyFirstLove

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

People's Magazine Most Beautiful?

I just love Regina Hall, and I think she is one of the most beautiful people in America! Her humor lately has been very likeable to the press. If you ask me, she is cuter than Halle Berry and Beyonce, which the media pushes as being the most beautiful black women.

This people magazine 'most beautiful people' such a joke. Beyonce cute but not more beautiful than alot of black celebrities or celebrities in general that get or looked at. Even Khloe Khardasian is beautiful toe. She is not fat as the media makes it seems. Just because her sisters are shorts and petite it doesnt make her fat. She is tall and athletic built, therefore she looks way bigger than them. This week Khloe was spotted with husband looking very fabulous.

Not only Khloe looked fab this week but Somaya Reese from VH1s Love and Hip Hop was spotted with a new look since her breast reduction. She has got to be the hottest latina out there. Hopefully, her music can get better and she can make hits.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Finding a Job as a Black Woman

I have been battling with the thoughts in my mind of how my appearance looks to the people that conduct my interviews. Last week, a female hispanic coworker of mine was conversing with a white female coworker about an interview that the white female coworker had coming up. My hispanic coworker complimented the coworkers new haircut and said it looked very professional. I could'nt help but pay attention to the conversation. As I sat at my desk, I had a hairstyle that was an afro, and I wondered if I told them I had an interview and decided to twist my hair, would they say it looked professional? I don't know if it was my insecurites that was getting to me.

This is when I came to the conclusion that me and my coworkers live in two totally different worlds. They had conversations everyday that I can't relate to. Their standard of beauty was blue eyes, straight hair, no thighs, and big boobs. My standard of beauty is big kinky hair and thick thighs. I knew this would be their opinion, but I thought that it would be some diversity among the mindsets of indivisuals in the 'real world.' I began thinking...How can black women be true to ourselves and have successful careers if professionalism that is defined by majority contradicts human nature?

I feel like as a black women, its very hard to decide what to look like for interviews in corporate america. From your hair to your outfit, black women can seem to be different from the rest of society. As for me, I'm a natural black female with curves. I usual wear weave to interviews, straighten my hair,or updo the fro. I avoid wearing highwaisted skirts because my body can look too curvy at times.

My friend in Georgia told me to invest in a wig, while another friend here in Texas told me that I can wear my natural hair to interviews. Both friends have natural hair. The friend in Texas goes on interviews all the time and still can't find a job in this big city houston. She can be used as a resarch example that shows wearing natural hair doesnt work for interviews. Either that or it's her resume.
After lstening to my coworkers, now im wondering if im not geting any opportunities because of my looks? I did get my current opportunity with a sewin weave, but what about the others that i interviewed with wearing an fro updo. I guess I will never know.

Think Like a Man Earns $12 million opening night!!

I'm ready for black cinema to come back. It has been difficult for black actors/actresses to make it in hollywood. Hope it changes soon!

Friday, May 20, 2011

The Great Recession's Lost Generation

http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/112754/recession-lost-generation-cnnmoney

by Chris Isidore
Tuesday, May 17, 2011

The brutal job market brought on by the recession has been hard on everyone, but especially devastating on the youngest members of the labor force.

About 60% of recent graduates have not been able to find a full-time job in their chosen profession, according t

o job placement firm Adecco.

And for those just entering the workplace, a bout of long-term unemployment can affect their career plans for years to come.

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Meghan O'Halloran was one of those who had her career derailed by the timing of her graduation.

She left Cornell University with a degree in architecture and six summers of internships at top firms in New York, Milan and London.

"I thought getting a job would be a snap," she said.

But after graduating in December 2008, just as job losses in the economy were reaching a high point, she was confronted with a very cold reception into the labor force.

She followed her boyfriend to China for a year, and found architecture work plentiful in the building boom there. But when she returned home at the end of 2009, not much had improved, and no one was hiring.

"I've applied for temporary work," she said. "The answer is always the same, 'We wish we could hire you.'"

She's decided to leave behind her hopes for a career as an architect and has started her own business making custom fabric, carpets and furniture.

O'Halloran's experience is not unique. Last year, the unemployment rate for college graduates age 24 and younger rose to 9.4%, the highest since the Labor Department began keeping records in 1985.

One reason is because recent hires with limited experience have the toughest time competing in a job market flooded with experienced candidates.

"We know that young people coming out of college have the least experience," said Kathy Kane, senior vice president of talent management at Adecco. "And these entry-level jobs can be the easiest for companies to reduce."

But long stretches of unemployment are only part of the problem young job seekers face.
Adecco also found that 18% of recent grads have been forced to turn to full-time jobs outside their field of study, often jobs for which a college degree is not required.

Many others are underemployed, or working part-time or temporary jobs and internships.

And the lack of steady income can also delay the start of their lives as independent adults. About a third of recent graduates are still living with their parents, Adecco found, with 17% saying they are financially dependent on their parents. Almost one in four say they are in debt.

Brittney Winters, 23, graduated from Princeton University in 2009 and can't find a teaching job, despite graduating from a top school.

"When you go to an Ivy League school, you figure this degree will mean something -- that it will guarantee you a job," she said.

Winters has taken on other "survival" jobs to get by, including working at a video rental store.

She now works for a public relations firm in Chicago. But the job is a long commute from her parents' home, and she's struggling to fill the gas tank each week.

A Long Recovery

With hiring on the rise, this year's college grads will find a somewhat better job market awaiting them after graduation. But those already hurt by the recession might not bounce back so quickly.

According to one study performed by Till von Wachter, an economics professor at Columbia University, the drag on income lasts for 10 years, on average.

The outlook could be even worse for the class of '09 or '10, von Wachter said, since the worse the recession, the longer it takes to get earnings and a career back on track.

"In the bad recessions in the past, the graduates recovered in 10 to 15 years. But we've never had such a strong recession," he said.

Princeton grad Winters said she's finding an increasing number of job openings she can apply for this year, but she's still having trouble explaining her resume of the last two years.

But she's hopeful she'll soon have her career back on track.

"I like to think it was only a minor detour, not a roadblock," she said.