The distribution of food manufacturing jobs and where they pay the best

EMSI analyzed the food manufacturing industry in each state, as well as in the150 largest metropolitan areas around the country.

When we think of regions where the economy is driven by food, most of us think of cornfields in Iowa, apple orchards in Washington and dairy farms in California. But a lot of the economic activity around food actually occurs after it is picked from the ground or milked from a cow.
Food manufacturing, which turns livestock and agricultural products into other products for consumption, is responsible for Green Bay's cheese and Seattle's coffee. This industry made up nearly 1.5 million wage-and-salary jobs in the United States in 2014—about three times the number of crop production jobs—making it a significant employer.
But where are food manufacturing jobs located? Where do they make up the largest share of local economies? Where are food manufacturing earnings the highest? The lowest? (Hint: Earnings have a wide range!)
To answer these questions, EMSI analyzed the food manufacturing industry in each state, as well as in the 150 largest metropolitan areas around the country.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW AN INTERACTIVE MAP

By metro

In the metro map above, large bubble sizes indicate high job counts, showing that food manufacturing has a significant presence in the local workforce. But since job counts tend to favor the largest metros, they don't always produce interesting analyses. Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles have the largest food manufacturing workforces, despite the fact that food manufacturing only accounts for about 1 percent of jobs in these metros.
But take a look at the blue bubbles, which indicate that food manufacturing has a high share of the local economy. These metros have lower job counts because their overall workforces are smaller, but food manufacturing is nonetheless important to the region.
Let's take a closer look at food manufacturing in these five metros.

Here are some takeaways from this data:

• The Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers metro has the highest share of food manufacturing out of all 150 metros. Out of the five metros with high shares, Fayetteville also has the highest job count in this industry.
• Visalia-Porterville is the only metro out of these five where the food manufacturing industry has seen significant growth in the last five years. In fact, in three of the five metros, this industry is declining.
• Despite the "Cheese Heads," Green Bay's largest employing subindustry in food manufacturing is not cheese manufacturing, although it is very close behind (1,858 jobs in animal slaughtering, 1,829 jobs in cheese manufacturing).
• In Modesto and Visalia-Porterville, food manufacturing jobs pay on average higher earnings than the average for all industries in these regions (average earnings per job* for all industries in Modesto: $52,593; in Visalia-Porterville: $45,269).

By state

Food manufacturing has the greatest share of state economies in the Midwest and the South, although it is also prominent in Alaska, Delaware and Idaho. But, in all honesty, food manufacturing doesn't make up a huge share of any state's economy (Arkansas' share is the highest at 3.7 percent).
Still, half of the states that have higher shares of their economies in food manufacturing (appearing in blue in the above map) are also among the states where the average earnings per job for food manufacturing is higher than the average earnings overall. These states include Idaho, Iowa, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Kansas. In some cases— Idaho, for example—the combined higher-than-average pay and large share of the economy may be enough to indicate that food manufacturing is a driver industry for these states.
Here's the list of all 13 states where food manufacturing jobs pay better than the average earnings. (Keep in mind that, in contrast, food manufacturing jobs pay worse than average in 37 states):

Since food manufacturing jobs are adding higher-than-average wages to these economies, it's great news that this industry is growing in all 13 of these states (even if, in the case of Iowa, it is growing only slightly). In Vermont, food manufacturing jobs have grown a whopping 27 percent, which is exciting news since the industry pays on average $2,600 more per job than average.
New Hampshire has the highest average food manufacturing earnings per job out of all states at $67,358. And they should count themselves lucky, especially in comparison to Mississippi's $36,707 average earnings per job in food manufacturing—the lowest in the nation.
*Average earnings per job includes wages and salaries, plus supplemental compensation such as bonuses, stock options, and contributions to 401(k) plans, for all jobs in a specific metro or industry. Because EMSI includes non-wage/salary compensation, EMSI's industry earnings numbers should not be treated as "average salary." They are generally higher than average salary by industry numbers that may come from other sources.

4 Tricks for Getting Rid of Your Nerves and Appearing More Confident in a Job Interview

Body language experts say the trick is to distract your mind and focus on things that don't make you nervous. Here are five tricks for doing just that.

Business Insider

By Hope Restle

There are endless telltale signs of nervousness at work or in a job interview: profuse sweating, rapid blinking, stammering, and the list goes on. But the good news is, there are ways to combat those signals and "hide" your anxiety.
Body language experts say the trick is to distract your mind and focus on things that don't make you nervous.
Here are five tricks for doing just that:

1. Recall a memory that inspires positive emotions.

One simple way to quell feelings of nervousness is to momentarily transport yourself to a time in which you felt self-assured and at ease. You can do this just before entering the room, or during the interview itself.

"Think of a time on the job, or in your personal life, when you experienced a success ... Notice how you feel, tell yourself that story, feel those emotions and merge those positive emotions with the new story of your job interview success," says Patti Wood, body language expert, coach, and author of "Snap: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language, and Charisma."

"We create and experience stories in the emotional right hemisphere of our brain," she explains. "When we recall and retell these stories, we re-experience the feelings that accompany them. By using this merging technique, you can bring positive emotions and success into any situation."

2. Create a secret gesture that corresponds to positive experience.

To take trick No. 1 one step further, Wood suggests creating your own personal gesture that's associated with a positive experience you've had in your life. (This works well if you don't have a specific memory in mind to think back to.)

Wood says she once worked with a client who couldn't think of a positive scenario that would help him relax during a job interview, so she told him to recall the emotions he felt during an activity or situation he enjoyed — in this case, sailing.

Mustering up these positive emotions, they worked to create a body movement — placing his hand on the side of his leg — that would jog his memory of the contentment and confidence he felt while sailing.

The next time he felt nervous during a job interview, briefly placing his hand on his leg activated those positive feelings, she says.

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3. Silently repeat a mantra.

Another way to calm yourself is to silently repeat a personal mantra, says Dr. Lillian Glass, behavior analyst, body language expert, and author of "The Body Language of Liars." A pacifying message will works well when you're wrapped up in your own anxiety. "You can tell yourself to relax, that everything will be just fine," she explains.

Cater to your own suspense-driven emotions and conceptualize a message that works best, whether it's more soothing or upbeat. When you're feeling overwhelmed, silent reassurance — whether it's that you will accomplish your goals, or just that you'll get through this stressful situation — will bring your mind back to a more tranquil state.

4. Be interested, not interesting.

One major flaw people make while trying to ensure a good first impression — during a job interview or otherwise — is trying too hard to appear interesting, while disregarding what the other person has to say.

"Be interested in what the other person is saying," says Glass. "Focus on being interested, not interesting."

Once you stop obsessing over what intelligent or witty thing to say next, and actually concentrate on the conversation at hand (not just your end), you'll have an easier time navigating the discussion, and less of a chance of getting lost in your own thoughts — which can make anyone extremely nervous. 

Grow up: 10 bad habits that make you look immature at work

There's a difference between sounding crabby in a 4:30pm meeting occasionally and being a habitual crabapple

When you're a kid, you don't yet have the tools that help process actions and your emotions – tools like maturity, patience or looking at the context of a situation. And apparently for a lot of adults, maturity and patience still prove difficult to master: three in four employees (77 percent) have witnessed some type of childish behavior among colleagues in the workplace, according to a new CareerBuilder study.

Letting emotions get the best of you
Everybody has a bad day, but these are the kind of actions that create toxic workplaces and add drama to your career—none of which will position you as Employee of the Month. So what bad behaviors are standing out to your boss? When asked which child-like behaviors they've witnessed colleagues displaying in the workplace, workers gave the following answers:
1.Whine: 55 percent
2.Pout over something that didn't go his/her way: 46 percent
3.Tattle on another co-worker: 44 percent
4.Make a face behind someone's back: 35 percent
5.Form a clique: 32 percent
6.Play a prank on another co-worker: 36 percent
7.Start a rumor about a co-worker: 30 percent
8.Storm out of the room: 29 percent
9.Throw a tantrum: 27 percent
10.Refuse to share resources with others: 23 percent

Bad habits for a bad career
None of those behaviors will make your co-workers admire you more, nor get you closer to a promotion. In fact, they may even act as red flags in your career path. An earlier 2015 CareerBuilder survey among employers found that some specific adolescent behaviors can have a negative impact on an employee's chances of being promoted, including:

• Negativity: A majority of employers (62 percent) say they are less likely to promote employees who have a negative or pessimistic attitude (whining, pouting, etc.).
• Vulgar language: More than half of employers (51 percent) consider vulgar language an indication that an employee is not ready for promotion.
• Gossip: Nearly half of employers (44 percent) say they would think twice before moving an employee who participates in office gossip up the ranks.
• Sloppiness: Employees who do not clean up after themselves can hurt their chances for a promotion in the eyes of 36 percent of employers.

Real-life drama and workplace tantrumsThere's a difference between sounding crabby in a 4:30pm meeting occasionally and being a habitual crabapple. When asked to name specific immature or adolescent behaviors they have seen at work, employers reported the following observations of one or more employees:

• Company owner threw tantrums, yelled and slammed doors when he didn't get his way.
• Employee hid to get away from duties and work responsibility.
• Employee intentionally set up a co-worker to get him/her in trouble.
• Employee ate other employees' food from the company refrigerator.
• Employee blocked parking spots to prevent other employees from parking closer to the front door.
• Employee gossiped about all of his direct reports, then pretended to be their advocate.
• Employee constantly pulled up inappropriate content on her cell phone and showed it to her "clique."
• Employee went to lunch and never came back.

"Some degree of what we may consider 'adolescent' conduct can be harmless, enabling employees to let off some steam and even promote a sense of camaraderie in the office," says Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer of CareerBuilder. "But there's a fine line between innocent fun and inappropriate behavior. Actions like spreading rumors, 'tattling,' and forming cliques to exclude others can be perceived as mean-spirited, bullying and even harassment." Leave the drama for your favorite TV shows and focus on your work and having professional relationships—your career will thank you.