"Your source for employment news in the Mother Lode"
This week in Mother Lode Works... - California Returning to Work
- Spotlight Employer: SPI
- Federal Employment
- UI Claim Updates.
Up to Date COVID-19 Information - covid19.ca.gov: The official website for California COVID-19 Response daily updates and resources. - edd.ca.gov: EDD provides a variety of support services to people who have lost their jobs or have had their hours reduced due to the impacts of COVID-19 in California.
California Returning to Work
In real time, different counties and industries are opening and changes are occurring rapidly. Here are some resources: covid19.ca.gov/roadmap-counties/
Retail, Childcare, Manufacturing and Logistics, offices and more are now open for business
provided they follow the guidelines, prepare plans and post checklists for their industry.
Information is posted here for specific industries: covid19.ca.gov/industry-guidance/
This means that some of us will be expected to return to work. What does that look like?
If you are currently getting Unemployment Benefits or Pandemic Unemployment
Assistance Benefits, remember that to continue getting benefits you must certify every
week.
You must meet eligibility requirements each week that you certify for benefits. You must
be:
Physically able to work.
Available for work.
Ready and willing to accept work immediately.
1) If employers are not able to check employees at the start of each work day, Employees
will be expected to check themselves for symptoms before reporting to work:
Fever of more than 100 degrees
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Chills
Repeated shaking with chills
Muscle pain
Headache
Sore Throat
New loss of taste or smell
You can check your symptoms using the Symptom Screener provided at the state’s
COVID-19 website, or by contacting your medical provider.
2) Frequent Hand Washing with soap for at least 20 seconds, or using a hand sanitizer
with at least 60% ethanol or 70% isopropanol when you cannot get to a sink or hand
washing station.
3) Physical Distancing both at work and off work time.
4) Proper use of face coverings – remember:
Face coverings do not protect the wearer and are not personal protective equipment.
Face coverings can help protect people near you, but do not replace the need for physical distancing and frequent hand washing.
You should wash or sanitize your hands before and after using or adjusting face coverings.
Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth.
Face coverings should be washed after each shift.
5) Your employer will need to post information about leave benefits and sick time, so look
for those policies when you return to work.
If you are in one of the high risk categories, and your job requires contact with the public,
you may want to consult your medical professional about returning to work. The CARES
act allows for individuals* who are in that situation to collect unemployment.
Likewise, if, in order to work, you need to have childcare provided by a school or provider
that is not open due to COVID, the CARES act allows for you to collect unemployment.
*Information about individuals covered under the CARES act can be found below.
Reference: CARES Act (3) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.
The term “covered individual”—
(A) means an individual who—
(i) is not eligible for regular compensation or extended benefits under State or Federal law or pandemic emergency unemployment compensation under section 2107, including an individual who has exhausted all rights to regular unemployment or extended benefits under State or Federal law or pandemic emergency unemployment compensation under section 2107; and
(ii) provides self-certification that the individual—
(I) is otherwise able to work and available for work within the meaning of applicable State law, except the individual is unemployed, partially unemployed, or unable or unavailable to work because—
(aa) the individual has been diagnosed with COVID–19 or is experiencing symptoms of COVID–19 and seeking a medical diagnosis;
(bb) a member of the individual's household has been diagnosed with COVID–19;
(cc) the individual is providing care for a family member or a member of the individual's household who has been diagnosed with COVID–19;
(dd) a child or other person in the household for which the individual has primary caregiving
responsibility is unable to attend school or another facility that is closed as a direct result of the COVID–19 public health emergency and such school or facility care is required for the individual to work;
(ee) the individual is unable to reach the place of employment because of a quarantine imposed as a direct result of the COVID–19 public health emergency;
(ff) the individual is unable to reach the place of employment because the individual has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID–19;
(gg) the individual was scheduled to commence employment and does not have a job or is unable to reach the job as a direct result of the COVID–19 public health emergency;
(hh) the individual has become the breadwinner or major support for a household because the head of the household has died as a direct result of COVID–19;
(ii) the individual has to quit his or her job as a direct result of COVID–19;
(jj) the individual's place of employment is closed as a direct result of the COVID–19 public health emergency; or
(kk) the individual meets any additional criteria established by the Secretary for unemployment assistance under this section; or
(II) is self-employed, is seeking part-time employment, does not have sufficient work history, or otherwise would not qualify for regular unemployment or extended benefits under State or Federal law or pandemic emergency unemployment compensation under section 2107 and meets the requirements of subclause (I); and
(B) does not include—
(i) an individual who has the ability to telework with pay; or
(ii) an individual who is receiving paid sick leave or other paid leave benefits, regardless of whether the individual meets a qualification described in items (aa) through (kk) of subparagraph (A)(i)(I).
Spotlight Employer: Sierra Pacific Industries
Having operated in the Mother Lode community for 25 years, SPI is proud to have our sawmills in Sonora and Chinese Camp. We understand our greatest strength is the people who choose to build a career with us. With 5,200 crew members in over 30 states, including over 350 in this region, Sierra Pacific offers many opportunities for personal and
professional growth: from entry-level to skilled trades, from truck drivers to sales managers, from foresters to engineers!! We invite you to learn more about us, our history, and what it
means to be a part of the #SPIFAMILY.
SPI produces everything from timbers and framing lumber to fencing and specialty
products from our 14 sawmills located throughout California and Washington. We use
innovative cutting-edge technology that individually analyzes each log and helping guide
experienced equipment operators to produce the highest quality boards. This isn’t the
lumber mill of past generations. It is high tech and fast-paced. Our crews use specialized
equipment such as portal cranes, end-dogging carriages, computer sensors, and scanners
to maintain high production levels and product quality.
Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) is a third-generation family-owned owned forest products
company built on hard work, innovation, and wise investments. SPI owns and manages
over 2 million acres of timberland in California and Washington, and is among the top five
US lumber producers. All while being tucked away in the most beautiful rural
communities.
Being certified to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) helps ensure our forests are
here for generations to come. Thanks to our professional foresters and natural resource
specialists we assure that wildlife habitat, water quality, and other forest values are
protected.
Interested in a career with us? Check out our careers page, and view some of our current
job openings below.
Federal Employment
With Census 2020 underway, federal employment opportunities are here. While
these jobs are temporary, the chance to learn something about getting a job with the federal
government is not. In our Mother Lode Region much of our federal
work is with two departments, the US Forest Services and the US Bureau of Land
Management. Both agencies hire seasonally on a regular basis, and both report a shortage of applicants for open positions. Here’s how you can make sure you don’t miss the opportunity the next time it rolls around.
Start by creating a user account in USAJOBS.
Gogovernment.org says, "To create your federal resume, we strongly suggest you use the
Resume Builder on USAJOBS to guide you through the resume-writing
process to ensure you do not leave out anything important. You are permitted
to create several resumes and tailor them to fit different positions. You may also create
a searchable, master resume that enables HR specialists to contact you about an
opportunity that might be a great fit for your skills and experience."
Read the entire job announcement. Focus on the following sections to understand
whether or not you qualify for the position. This critical information is found under:
Duties and Qualifications
How to Apply (including a preview of the assessment questionnaire)
How You Will be Evaluated
Make sure you have the required experience and/or education before you apply. Hiring
agencies use the job announcement to describe the job and the required qualifications,
including:
Level and amount of experience
Education
Training
What to include in your resume: Federal jobs often require that you have experience in a
particular type of work for a certain period of time. You must show how your skills and
experiences meet the qualifications and requirements listed in the job announcement to
be considered for the job.
The fact that your experience needs to address every required qualification is consistent
across the Federal agencies – and it is the number one reason why people do or do not
get selected to interview.
However, experience is NOT limited to paid work. So if you have volunteer experience, or
grew up doing ranch work, include those as experiences.
Here are 10 tips from the Forest Service:
Start early: To apply for any federal job, including Forest Service jobs, you must apply
through www.usajobs.gov or USAjobs. To do so, you will need to create an account and
this can take some time to set up. Your best bet is to do this ahead of when you think
you’ll be applying for a job so you’ll have plenty of time to set up your profile and get your
resume and other attachments ready/uploaded.
Create a resume using the resume builder in USAjobs: The advantage of the resume
builder, rather than attaching your own, is you get a standardized Federal resume and it is
searchable, meaning USDA Forest Service Human Resource Specialists can do keyword
searches, an option that may not be available with uploaded resumes. Creating a resume
in USAjobs resume builder also ensures you include all the required information needed
for you to be considered for a federal job. And lastly, the resume builder creates resumes
hiring managers are used to seeing which makes it easier for them to read and
understand.
Include dates & salary of your current & past employment: This is something many
applicants forget to include or don’t know to include in their resume if they don’t use
resume builder in USAjobs, but is essential or your application may not be considered. You
need to include dates (month & year) of previous employment, salary of previous
employment, average hours per week, and name of your previous supervisors. You also
need to do this for your current position as well. This level of detail is necessary when
your application is being evaluated to determine whether or not you meet the minimum
qualifications. When a Human Resource Specialist is evaluating your application and trying
to determine if you are qualified for a job, the months & years of work experience (and
particularly, relevant work experience) is used. Your salary also tells us more about this
work experience and what grade level this compares to in the federal structure.
Example: To qualify for a forestry technician (fire, recreation, trails, etc.) 462 job series at
a grade level of a GS-4; you need 6 months of general work experience, 6 months of
relevant work experience, and/or 2 years above high school with courses related to the
occupation.
Do include a list of college course work in your resume if you are using your credits to meet the qualifications for the job: If you have a degree and/or currently working on your degree, listing this coursework in your resume may not be necessary and takes up
precious space. However, if you using specific courses to become qualified for a job,
please list those in your resume. For example, if you have a Forestry degree but are
applying for a position as a botanist, you will want to show that you qualify as a botanist
given the number of credits/courses taken. HR will make the final determination, but it’s
helpful if they know which courses you believe qualify you for the job. If you completed
any college coursework whether you have completed a degree or not, you should
definitely attach your most recent transcript(s) to your application in USAjobs. Many
applicants don’t include their most recent transcript, so don’t make this mistake. Be sure
to get an updated transcript as soon as you can upon completion of a semester or degree.
Page limit or rule of thumb for federal resumes on USAjobs: For a recent college graduate,it is much easier to keep your resume to one page. However, if you’ve been in the
workforce for 10-20 years it is almost impossible. Generally speaking, the Forest Service is
more accepting of multiple page resumes for persons with a longer job history. And, you
most certainly do not want to cheat yourself out of including all your relevant work
experience as well as knowledge, skills, and abilities by being too brief. A three to four
page resume is quite acceptable to most hiring managers if you have the professional
work experience to justify the length.
Example: You have been in the workforce for 15 years and are now looking for a job in
budget/finance and wonder if you should include your work experience from college when
you worked for a burger joint. The answer is no, as this likely isn’t work experience that is
going to help you qualify for the job. However, if you are a 20 year old looking to land a
job fighting fire you will need to include this work experience because you have such
limited work experience and you need to show you have been successful in the workforce.
Tailor your resume specific to the job you are applying to: Another positive feature of the
resume builder in USAjobs is the ability to duplicate a resume. USAJobs allows the user to
have 5 resumes uploaded or created using the USAJobs resume builder. This allows the
user to have a master resume with all of his or her qualifications and experience listed.
They can then duplicate this resume and easily add or remove items to tailor the resume
to the specific position they are applying for. Your resume should include specifics that
you add or cut depending on the applicability to the position being applied for.
Find the Position Description and “crosswalk” it with your resume: The best way to tailor your resume specific to the job you are applying to is to get a copy of the position
description (PD) for the job. The best way to do this is to get this PD from the outreach
database before the job is advertised. If for some reason, the PD is not included in the
outreach database you should call the hiring manager and request it. If you missed the
job being in the outreach database and its now being advertised on USAjobs, each job
advertisement includes the job duties. Use either the PD or the job duties and use each
item listed and determine if you have job experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities to
show in your resume in your work experience.
Example: If “constructs and/or maintains recreational trails” is listed as a job duty for a
GS-3 Recreation Aid position, it would be wise for you to include any experience you have
using hand tools such as a shovel, axe, saw, or Pulaski clearing debris, trees, etc. If you
have experience using a chain saw, this would be good to include as well.
References: Many hiring managers never call your references you have listed in your
resume. The reason for this is hiring managers are not interested in hearing from people
you pick that we know are going to say good things about you. Hiring managers typically
want to hear from your current and past supervisors, peers you have worked with, and
subordinates (if you were/are a supervisor). These people will be contacted rather than
your references and enough calls will be made to ensure a good cross section of people
are contacted to learn what is needed about you. Given this, it is fine to list references
you have hand-picked to include on a resume – however, if your resume is lengthy this
might be an option for you to skip.
Other items to include: Even in the USAjobs resume builder there is a place to list other
items that may help you qualify for the job or be more competitive for the job. It is a good
idea to list the titles and completion dates of training courses relevant to the position you
are seeking. Hiring managers like to see job-related honors, awards, leadership activities,
skills that are also relevant. This is not a place to include all the extra-curricular activities
you did in high school or college, but to focus on those items not listed in your work
experience that are relevant to the job you are applying to. The key here is to list those
items that will help you stand out and be as competitive as you can for the position.
Cover letters: Cover letters are not required by the Forest Service. Some hiring managers
like to see them. It doesn’t hurt to include a cover letter and it can be a great way to
accomplish a few things. First, you can reference the phone call you had with the hiring
manager reminding them of who you are and your conversation. Second, it allows you a
simple way to mention why you want this specific job and/or what it means to you. And
lastly, it also allows you a simple way to mention something personal about yourself
and/or family. Keeping the cover letter brief is a great idea and most definitely limited to
one page.
UI Claim Updates
See the latest number of claims filed below:
You can also find this information and more on the EDD site at: www.edd.ca.gov/newsroom.htm
For more information, contact your local Mother Lode Job Training job center:
Amador Center Manager: Annette, Email: asolisrios@mljt.org, Phone: (209) 223-3341 Calaveras Center Manager: Emily, Email: egraham@mljt.org, Phone: (209) 754-4242
Mariposa Center Manager: Stephanie, Email: sleasure@mljt.org, Phone: (209) 966- 3643 Tuolumne Center Manager: Pam, Email: phughes@mljt.org, Phone: (209) 588-1150 Mother Lode Job Training is a Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Equal Opportunity Employer/Program; CRS 711 (TTY) Auxilary aides & services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities.
Mother Lode Job Training is a proud partner of the America's Job Center of California network.