thursday,march 21, 2013 - County Times - Southern Maryland Online
thursday,march 21, 2013 - County Times - Southern Maryland Online
thursday,march 21, 2013 - County Times - Southern Maryland Online
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The <strong>County</strong> <strong>Times</strong><br />
Thursday, March <strong>21</strong>, <strong>2013</strong> 10<br />
Professionals<br />
Are<br />
Downshifting<br />
Careers<br />
Climbing the corporate ladder takes<br />
time, devotion and ambition. After reaching<br />
the top, some professionals choose to<br />
change directions in a phenomenon called<br />
“downshifting.”<br />
A 2009 publication from the AARP<br />
Public Policy Institute noted that many older<br />
workers, as they approach retirement age,<br />
are looking to trade in a higher-paying, demanding<br />
job for one with more flexibility,<br />
less responsibility and lower pay. A study by<br />
the University of Michigan for the National<br />
Institute on Aging’s Health and Retirement<br />
Study found 28.8 percent of males and 24.3<br />
percent of females ages 51 to 55 changed careers<br />
after age 50.<br />
In the current economy, this downshifting<br />
or career reassessment can be difficult<br />
to come by. That’s because there are many<br />
other job seekers who are interested in any<br />
position they can get and will be vying for<br />
the lower-paying jobs that some downshifters<br />
may also be seeking. In addition, some<br />
firms won’t consider applicants whom they<br />
deem overqualified. Some human resources<br />
departments and recruiters simply overlook<br />
high-qualified applicants because they may<br />
assume the skill level also comes with a need<br />
for a high salary – even if this is not the case.<br />
There are others who are willing to take<br />
the gamble on a well-qualified applicant.<br />
They realize that this opportunity may not<br />
come again if the market rebounds.<br />
Those who are looking to downshift may<br />
have to change the ways they market themselves.<br />
It may not entail listing your most<br />
notable achievements on your resume, but<br />
rather selling yourself a little short. Here are<br />
some tips you can employ if you’re looking<br />
to scale back your job and responsibilities.<br />
• Apply at smaller companies that may<br />
not have the staff or resources to promote<br />
from within just yet. There’s a good chance<br />
your experience and leadership abilities will<br />
be prized in such a company.<br />
• Play up your assets, not the positions<br />
you have held, on resumes.<br />
• Be honest in your cover letter, letting<br />
hiring managers know you are serious about<br />
taking a step back in rank.<br />
• Consider freelancing or consulting if<br />
you’re having trouble finding a full-time gig.<br />
Freelancing lets you set your own hours and<br />
pace.<br />
• Find out if you can downshift in your<br />
current company. Some employers will be<br />
anxious to keep a good worker and see the<br />
benefit in paying a lower salary.<br />
Not everyone is interested in moving<br />
up the corporate ladder. Certain individuals<br />
are looking to downsize their jobs to gain<br />
more flexibility for family, hobbies and other<br />
pursuits.<br />
metrocreativeconnection.com<br />
By Guy Leonard<br />
Staff Writer<br />
Local Manufacturer Builds<br />
Pre-fab Bomb Shelters<br />
Triton Metals, based in California, has made a name<br />
for itself in the metal fabrication business, especially<br />
when it comes to creating items for the defense industry.<br />
Now they are branching out into the civil defense<br />
market by manufacturing bomb shelters from plate steel.<br />
They are prefabricated ready to be laid into the ground.<br />
Triton Metal staff has a prototype model on display<br />
in the parking lot of their facility on Airport View Drive.<br />
It is complete with four bunk beds, an air pump that can<br />
filter nuclear, biological and chemical contaminates, a<br />
bathroom and shower, kitchenette with refrigerator and<br />
lockers that can hold food, supplies and weapons and<br />
ammunition.<br />
A couch and TV set round out a lounge area.<br />
“It’s made from quarter-inch plate steel and it basically<br />
goes directly underground,” said Mike Hutson,<br />
business development manager at Triton Metals. “You<br />
can make a colony out of these things.”<br />
Each of the bomb shelters can be linked together,<br />
Hutson explained, to form a kind of subterranean<br />
community.<br />
Hutson said concerns about possible civil unrest and<br />
financial collapse prompted Triton Metals to explore the<br />
burgeoning prepping and survivalist community.<br />
Their prototype model was recently showcased at<br />
Triton Metals just showed its new underground bomb shelter at a prepper and survivalist show in<br />
Nashville, Tennessee.<br />
Photos By Guy Leonard<br />
The interior of the new bomb shelter is cramped but comfortable.<br />
a prepper convention in Nashville,<br />
Tenn., he said.<br />
Most underground bunkers have<br />
to be built on the site where they<br />
would be put to rest but Triton Metals<br />
builds the shelter in their factory and<br />
can then ship it to the customer.<br />
The end product can be adjusted<br />
to suit whatever the customer’s needs<br />
are, he said.<br />
“It’s whatever the customer<br />
wants, they’re totally customizable,”<br />
Hutson said.<br />
The end goal of the business expansion<br />
is also to increase the number<br />
of local jobs, about 100 jobs in total,<br />
Hutson said.<br />
“We want to increase manufacturing<br />
jobs in the county,” Hutson<br />
said.<br />
guyleonard@countytimes.net<br />
Precise Systems Recognized by<br />
DiversityBusiness.com<br />
Precise Systems, Inc. is pleased to announce that we<br />
have been recently recognized by DiversityBusiness.com as<br />
the 13th most successful Disabled Veteran Owned Business<br />
in the United States and also ranked Precise in 14th position<br />
of the top 100 Privately-held Businesses in <strong>Maryland</strong>.<br />
Both of these rankings, which honor companies by<br />
revenue and diversity affiliation, represent the nation’s top<br />
multicultural earners and provide a comprehensive look at<br />
an important segment of the United States economy - America’s<br />
privately held companies.<br />
“We’re very honored that DiversityBusiness.com selected<br />
Precise Systems for inclusion on its list,” said Tom<br />
Curtis, CEO. “The diversity of our workforce broadens the<br />
range of ideas and perspectives which we’re able to bring<br />
to bear for the benefit of our clients. Being named one of<br />
the Top 100 Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses in the U.S.<br />
provides public sector recognition of the incalculable value<br />
of our Veterans as they transition into private industry.”