Corrections or additions?
These articles by Teena Chandy and Barbara Fox were published in U.S.
1 Newspaper dated Wednesday,
December 23, 1998. All rights reserved.
Job Shadow Volunteers
Businesses across the country are gearing up for the
second national Groundhog Job Shadow Day on February 2. Students —
most of them in middle school and high school — will shadow such
professionals as scientists, doctors, architects, meteorologists,
firemen, graphic designers, government employees, as they go through
a normal day of work.
America’s Promise, the youth development organization headed by
General
Colin Powell, has joined the National School-to-Work Opportunities
Office, Junior Achievement, and the American Society of Association
Executives to spearhead the effort to match half a million young
people
with job shadow volunteers. “Job Shadow Day provides a unique
opportunity to make the world of work come alive for young people.
They get to see how academics are applied in the workplace and be
inspired and motivated by successful adults,” says Stephanie
Powers, director of the National School-to-Work Office.
Companies that must retrain entry level workers could trim their
training
budgets if students knew what skills they need before they go to work.
Employers have also realized that it is a time for them to brush up
their skills. It gives the workforce of today an opportunity to
directly
interact with the workforce of tomorrow.
To ensure that both students and their workplace hosts benefit from
this project, the organizers have developed extensive guidelines for
participating businesses. From “Greet your students as a business
associate” to “Thank the students for visiting you today.”
Students do both observation and hands-on work. A list of activities
that the students can take part in are provided to the employers.
They can sit in on conference calls, use safe office equipment, do
daily computer tasks, observe customer contact, help with
presentations,
use safe office equipment, send out memos, and so forth.
“Employers
will be able to share with students what will be expected of them
in the workplace and students will experience first hand what a day
in the `real world’ has to offer,” says Tom Donahue,
president
and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
To help employers understand and deal with students effectively, the
organizers offer tips on student behavior. For example:
Use humor carefully. Middle school students are greatlyinfluenced by the peers and can quickly become humiliated when singledout in social situations. Humor is always appreciated, but be carefulthat any jokes are not made at a student’s expense.Don’t play favorites. Fairness is an important value forhigh school students. Playing favorites or not giving each studenta fair share is seen as negative behavior. If you have more than onestudent shadow, be sure to give them an equal chance to participate.Standards of conduct are also outlined. “Workplace hosts shouldnot have any inappropriate contact inside or outside the classroomwith any student met through the Groundhog Job Shadow Day Program,including those students 18 years of age or older.”Educators feel that students show a renewed interest in school andacademics after a job shadowing experience. Students who shadowarchitectsare likely to realize the importance of geometry in architecture.Those that shadow meteorologists are amazed at the extent of astronomyand math required to forecast the weather. Little do they realizethat when they see the “weatherman” on TV, says KateMilner,a spokesperson for the coalition. “One New York student whoshadoweda doctor realized how much more he had to learn and went back andreread his whole biology text and this just blew his teacher away!He continues his partnership with the hospital and has decided thepath he would like to pursue,” says Milner.”Just as important is for students to realize what they do notwant to do. Job shadowing helps narrow down the choice of theircareers.You don’t want to spend $100,000 in law school to realize that thisis not what you want to do,” adds Milner. The children get tosee the world of work up close and develop a better idea of the careeropportunities available to them as adults. Bill Gates provided jobshadowing experiences to 5000 students in the IT industry, who learnedthat IT jobs are not limited to computers.Job shadowing took off in Massachusetts two years ago when BellSouthsponsored Job Shadow Day as part of their school-to-work effort. Itobtained a lot of visibility after it went national last year andover 125,000 students and 5,000 businesses participated. Companieshave expressed tremendous interest, says Milner. “As a communityservice activity, they consider it good for their image.” In NewJersey alone, 4,600 students and 500 businesses and civic groupsparticipated.Governor Christie Whitman proclaimed “School-to-CareersWeek” in New Jersey to include Groundhog Job Shadow Day.Among professional associations endorsing the event are the AmericanMeteorological Society, the Hospitality Business Alliance, and theInformation Technology Association. General Powell spearheaded thedrive to match 100,000 students nationwide with government officials.More than a dozen state governors and other high ranking officialswere shadowed.The media blitz on February 2 is for awareness, say the organizers.The coalition will try to provide students job shadow opportunitiesthroughout the year, so they can continue this partnership. “Onceexperienced, I think businesses will see the benefits, both for theircommunity’s youth and for the future of their companies, and we willsee job shadowing continue throughout the year,” says GeneralPowell. Continental Airlines facilities at Newark Airport isdevelopingprograms and work-based learning activities to accommodate studentswho, after job shadowing, have decided on aviation careers.John Weil, president of Junior Achievement of Central New Jerseywhich did not participate last year says that they expect to provide150 job shadow experiences this year. Some of the central Jerseycompaniesthat have agreed to participate include Bovis Construction,Bristol-MyersSquibb, City of Trenton, Mercer County Community College, TheTrentonian,First Union Bank, and the New Jersey Department of Education.”Mentoring our nation’s youth and grooming them for success asthe workforce of tomorrow — that is what Groundhog Job ShadowDay is all about,” says General Powell. “It’s just one day,but it’s a day neither adults nor the young people involved willforget.”– Teena ChandyTop Of PageCultiver Votre JardinThe certificate uses flowery language, expressingappreciationfor “planting your enterprise in our Silicon Garden where greatbusiness leaders grow their companies to cultivate and harvesttechnologies. . . to feed the world.” Those are the words of Daniel J.Conley, who is coordinating three organizations to present the”Best of the Best: Presentations by Prize-Winning New JerseyCompanies,”on Wednesday, January 6, at noon at the Forrestal. Cooperating arethe New Jersey Entrepreneurial Network, the New Jersey TechnologyCouncil, and New Jersey Entrepreneurs Forum. Cost: $35. E-mail:mg@sswhb.com.or call 609-279-0010.Everyone attending will have an opportunity to give a 30-secondgreeting,and then Richard K. Rein, editor and publisher of U.S. 1Newspaper,will open the program. Representatives from these honored companieswill make presentations:Larry Shiller, founder of SBX, will present isInternet-basedtrade matching Nanocap system (U.S. 1, May 27, 1998,https://www.sbxnet.com).SBX gets the “Super Angel” financing award, thanks to$250,000seed money from venture capitalist John Martinson.Wlodek Mandecki, the founder of PharmaSeq Inc. hasbeen awarded $2 million from the United States Advanced TechnologyProgram. He is moving the business from Edison to Princeton CorporatePark’s Deer Park Drive (732-744-0669; fax, 732-635-0428). Histechnologyinvolves a DNA diagnostic transmitter receiver.Ira S. Pastor, (angel investor and director), will presentthe story of Photosynthetic Harvest , the winner of a contestsponsored by the American Venture Magazine. The firm is based inWillingboroand collaborates with the laboratory of Ilya Raskin of RutgersBiotech Center to discover and manufacture biologically activecompoundsfrom live plants (609-835-1600).Ari Naim, founder and chief technical officer of SycomTechnologies , is being honored for a $2 million strategic OEM(originalequipment manufacturer) alliance contract for portable digital audiorecording technology. The firm is located on Parkway Avenue in Ewing(U.S. 1, October 9, 1996) https://www.sycominc.com). It willhave a booth at the mammoth Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.Conley calls himself a “venture catalyst.” HisSomerset-basedbusiness was formerly called Funds for Business Plus Leasing but isnow known by the moniker that he hopes will be commonly applied toNew Jersey, Silicon Garden. The firm’s name is Silicon Garden CapitalInc. (732-873-1955; fax, 732-873-3237, E-mail: OncallCFO@aol.com).Top Of PageInvestor BewareIf an investment looks too good to be true, it probablyis — too good to be true. “Be suspicious of self-proclaimed`financial professionals’ who promise investment returns that aremuch greater than prevailing market rates,” says Franklin L.Widmann, chief of the bureau of securities for the state divisionof consumer affairs.Peter Verniero, state attorney general, just announced theresultsof a case against a Somerset County family business that allegedlydefrauded 33 clients of more than $1 million over an eight-yearperiod.The estate of the late Joseph J. Sollazzo, plus his wife andtwo sons, must pay civil penalties of $1.14 million for 224 violationsof securities laws.”Before entrusting professionals with their investments,”says Verniero, “make sure the person or firm meets the state’sregistration requirements and doesn’t have a record of securitiesviolations.” Financial planners must register with the state as”investment advisers.”To check on someone call the Bureau of Securities at 973-504-3600or write to Box 47029, 153 Halsey Street, Newark 07101.Top Of PageCapitalists, UniteThe way to defend capitalism is to defend yourcurrency,”says William Sword Sr., founder of Wm. Sword Inc. on ChambersStreet. “Now that capitalism has become a reality for a lot ofpeople all over the world, it is an enjoyable experience for thosethat succeed and a painful one for those that fail.””I have become convinced that the best thing you can do for thegreatest amount of people is to help them acquire not only freedomand dignity but some assets. When you have assets you are free,”says Sword. He addresses the Princeton Chamber on the topic,”Capitalism:Your Wagon Has Square Wheels,” on Thursday, January 7, at 11:30a.m. at Forrestal. Cost: $30. Call 609-520-1776.”When it comes to investing, play defense,” is his advice.”The long term capital people made a basic fundamental mistake,playing offense all the time. This is a great business to be in, themoney business, but you just can’t play offense all the time.”Sword majored in English at Princeton, Class of 1946, and worked therein the development office, until, at age 30, he went to MorganStanley,where he learned investment banking and securities trading andeventuallybecame a partner. When he had just joined the firm he did somethingthat became part of the company folklore: He traded on margin.”We used to buy sinking fund bonds for the World Bank, and I foundthat Solomon had funds for sale at 89 and First Boston wanted to buythem at 90. I broke all the rules at Morgan Stanley and bought thebonds and sold them to First Boston. It made $2,500 for MorganStanley,which was half of my salary for the whole year.””My boss, the late Dan Conroy, almost fired me, becausewe weren’t in the trading business. The partners called me in,”says Sword, “and it became a legendary story. `Bill, as long asyou work at Morgan Stanley, and however well you do, you will neverexceed that success,’ they told me.”Sword left Wall Street to found his own firm in 1976 and was joinedby Conroy. Sword’s two sons have joined him in the business.WilliamSword Jr. runs the Wm. Sword & Company investment banking firm,and Richard Sword runs Sword Securities at the same address.”How lucky can you get,” says Sword Sr.The Sword sons had had their first real taste of capitalism when,just after their father joined Morgan Stanley, he helped with a $300million bond issue for United States Steel to build Fairless Steelin Bucks County. He took the boys down to see the construction site:”Here I was as the last man on the totem pole working on thelargestbond issue that had ever been sold until that time, to build theFairlessworks right down the river from where I lived.””I used to take my sons to see where it was, all the houses beingbuilt, jobs being created, and families being empowered, by theleadershipof U.S. Steel Corp and the capital markets in Wall Street thatproducedthe $300 million to put up the steel plant,” says Sword. “Thatwas a powerful demonstration to me of the value, in human terms, ofall those families, tens of thousands of people were being affected,happily, by what I was doing in my job.”Says Sword, “I loved it, and that love affair continues.”Top Of PageRecord HighEmploymentThe New Jersey Department of Labor’s latest monthlyemployers survey revealed optimistic numbers. New Jersey’sunemploymentrate dropped to 4.5 percent, its lowest since March, 1990. Afternearlyseven years New Jersey has reported an unemployment rate lower thanthe national rate of 4.6 percent in October. The services divisionshowed the highest increase in job holding, while the communicationsindustry dropped over 1,500.The survey indicates that the number of persons working in New Jerseyrose by 1,600 from September to a record high seasonally adjustedemployment level of 3,816,600 in October. Private sector employmentgrowth for this year through October totaled 49,900 jobs, making 1998the third-best year (after 1997 and 1994) in this decade.The seasonally adjusted workweek of production workers in New Jersey’sfactories — particularly primary metals, fabricated metals,electronicequipment, and instruments — increased over by 0.4 hour to 42hours in October. The survey also found that the average hourlyearningsof New Jersey’s manufacturing production workers during the Octobersurvey week was $14.60, unchanged from the revised estimate forSeptember.Average weekly earnings increased over the month by $5.84 to $614.66in October. Compared with a year ago, production workers’ hourlyearningshave grown by 40 cents, or 2.8 percent.The Labor Department survey found that job growth was greatest inthe services division, up by 2,600 from September to October. Avarietyof service and recreational activities together posted a seasonallyadjusted gain of 1,700 over the month. Engineering/management servicesrose by 1,000 mainly due to increases in management/public relationsand accounting and related services. Job holding infinance/insurance/realestate grew by 1,100 over the month. Gains in security and commoditybrokerages accounted for 600 of these jobs. Depository institutions(commercial banks, credit unions, etc.) and insurance agencies added300 and 200 jobs respectively. Wholesale trade posted a gain of 800.The increase in jobs was concentrated among distributors of durablegoods.A decline of 1,500 in communications was mostly responsible for thedecrease of 1,600 in the transportation/communications/publicutilitiessector. Manufacturing employment dropped over the month by 1,900 toa level of 474,100 in October, after seasonal adjustment. In durablegoods manufacturing, down overall by 900, declines of 500 infabricatedmetals and 300 in industrial machinery were mostly the result of aplant closing and a strike, respectively. A decrease of 1,000 innondurablegoods employment was due primarily to a downturn of 700 in printingand publishing.Previous StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
