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Want an Exciting Career? Think Technology – Really!
Long gone are the days when the "computer nerd" labored alone and unappreciated in his parents’ garage. Today, self-professed technology geeks like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are business world superstars and pop culture icons. Is it any wonder that technology now provides the fastest growing, most diverse and exciting range of career opportunities?
Tips on Balancing Work and Home Life
Most people agree that balancing work and home life is important, but how exactly to do that is another matter. With a few strategies, however, it may be easier than you think to find that perfect balance between your home life and your career.
Poor Sleep Affects Accuracy, Attitude on the Job
If you've been burning the midnight oil, you may soon be burning out at work. According to a recent national survey by the Better Sleep Council, eight out of 10 Americans report at least one negative work-related side effect as a direct result of sleep deprivation.
Feeling Underappreciated at Work? Demand Some Recognition!
If you’re feeling underappreciated at work, you’re not alone. Nearly 45 percent of global employees feel that their managers do not recognize them nor encourage them to use their talents
Acing the Situational Interview
The phone rings. It’s a recruiter calling to let you know that all that hard work on your resume paid off and they’re inviting you to come in for an interview. You’re psyched up, until you hear about this new situational interviewing taking place -- now, you’re psyched out. Here's everything you need to know so you score a great situational interview.
How to Ace a Phone Interview
More and more companies are using phone interviews before bringing job candidates in and you have to be memorable - not just with what you say, but how you say it. Those “ums” and “likes” you use in regular conversation could count against you like minutes ticking away in a parking meter.
Taking Control Over Your Public Speaking Fears
When various news agencies and psychological journals compile lists of common phobias, “sociophobia” -- the fear of being judged or criticized by others -- rates high. Specifically, the phobia of public speaking is one terror which many people cannot shake.
If You Work so You Can Travel, Why Not Travel for Work?
Do you still dream of exploring the world? Maybe seeing other places excites you or learning about
other cultures gives you a better understanding of yourself and your place in the world. If you’ve
always wanted to travel more, it can happen by choosing a career that will take you there.
You could teach English as a second language (ESL), join the Peace Corps, work on a cruise ship, be
a travel writer or photographer, or choose a career that embraces a little of each of these.
Don’t Compromise: You Can Find a Job That Fits Your Values
A coming shortage of skilled workers means the market is about to turn in favor of employees. Knowing this, many qualified professionals are now evaluating employment opportunities based on more than just salary, benefits and security. They are also seeking companies that respect, nurture and share their personal values.
Career Advancement For Tomorrow
While there are many tools candidates use to find a job -- recruiting Web sites, traditional ads,
or headhunters -- one of the best may be a temporary position.
Is a New Job in Your Future?
How to Evaluate Your Current Position and What You Should Expect.
Employees have raised the bar when it comes to job satisfaction, expecting their employers to
offer more -- whether it is salary, respect, work-life balance or even vacation time. If they’re
not getting what they feel they deserve, they might join the 30 percent of employees who are not
only open to new job opportunities, but who are actively looking for a new position
Career Mission: Find a Better Job
With every new year, changing jobs often tops the list of personal resolutions. But with so many
career paths to choose from, which offer the greatest opportunities? From civil engineers to
regulatory affairs associates, tomorrow’s hot jobs are within your reach.
Aerospace and Aviation Are More Than Modest Job Prospects
Are you an engineering student who is surveying the career landscape for the best job prospects and opportunities? If so, look to aerospace and aviation.
The New Office Environment Encourages Collaboration
Although people still spend approximately two-thirds of their day working individually, more so now than ever, businesses are relying on teamwork and creative collaboration to generate success. As this collaborative approach to business continues to grow, the landscape of the typical office is evolving to reflect this change.
Making the Most of a Business Meeting
Attending business conferences is good for your career in many ways. It gives you the opportunity to network with colleagues which is especially useful if you don't work directly with...
Best Cities for Young Professionals
New York City dropped from first to fourth place on Forbes' list of Best Cities for Young Professionals. Now in the number one spot is San Francisco, followed by Boston...
Behind the Glass Door
Before accepting a job offer, it's wise to learn everything you can about an employer. Of course you can do your research and dig up the facts and figures on...
Must You Have a Resume?
I just read Louise Fletcher's post, No, You Can't Do Without a Resume on the Career Hub blog. Louise, a professional resume writer, is responding to a post on another...
Can You Turn Your Hobby Into a Career?
I love hearing someone who has left a career she doesn't love to do something she would be doing even if she wasn't getting paid for it. Most often hobbies...
Best and Worst Cities In Which to Be Unemployed
If losing your job isn't demoralizing enough, now you have to feel bad about where you chose to live. Forbes.com recently published a list of the Best and Worst Cities...
Reader Email: "I Want to Change Careers"
When I get an email from a site visitor who is dealing with an issue many other people also face, I like to feature it here. That way, in addition...
Transferable Skills
Are you thinking of making a career change? What's holding you back? Most people, despite the fact that they are no longer happy in their current fields, put off making...
An Offer You Can't Refuse ... Or Can You?
Many people believe that turning down an assignment from their boss would be career suicide. It would be much worse, though, to take on a project you can't complete. While...
The Risks of Drinking With Coworkers
Buddy T, the About.com Guide to Alcoholism, wrote on his blog about a survey that asked full time workers about their participation in after work drinking sessions. According to the...
About Career Planning
Career Planning
She Won a Fortune With a Cookie
Carolyn Gurtz, a Maryland resident, took the million-dollar grand prize in the Pillsbury Bake-Off with her Double Delight Peanut Butter Cookie. As told to Wendy Tiefenbacher.
Junk Your Gas Guzzler?
There's nothing like $100 fill-ups to put your big bruiser on the endangered list.
Taking Aim at Military Scams
The men and women who protect our country are getting ripped off.
Biotech Careers: Smart Choices
You don't need a Ph.D to profit from this hot job field, but don't settle for a menial bachelor's-degree position, either.
Living la Vida Geo
Gas-sipping retro cars from the 90s are
setting the used-car market afire. So is my
car sexy -- or what?
The Turnaround in Financial Stocks
One fund manager says he's never seen so many opportunities in the U.S. financial sector as he does today.
Cities that Work for Business -- and Their Customers
While high-end cities try to appeal to the "creative class," "opportunity urbanism" aims at building a broad business base and strong middle-class.
Closing the Tax Gap: A New Priority
Congress sees dollar signs in measures to narrow the tax gap.
No Bite Left in the Dogs of the Dow?
This yield-oriented approach to stock picking has seen better days. There are better ways to mine for high dividends.
Track Down Extra Money From the Government
States hold billions of dollars of unclaimed property, and the IRS is sitting on millions in undeliverable refund checks. Some might belong to you.
High Food Prices Are Here to Stay
Stretching food dollars is an emerging focus for soccer moms and employee cafeteria managers.
Getting a Jump on Summer-Job Searches
The earlier kids start looking, the better their odds of landing work. But they might need a little nudge from their parents.
Investments That Pay You Every Month
Expect a steady flow of cash from these three portfolios.
Fed Not Dumb Enough for a '70s Replay
The pain of high energy prices is real and harsh -- but not as difficult as it could be if the Fed tried to soften the blow.
Get Help to Tackle Paperwork
A daily money manager will pay bills, sort through mail and file insurance claims.
Kiplinger Personal Finance
Trusted Financial advice and business forecasts for more than 75 years
You're Fired! How to Handle Getting Fired
There's no way around it, getting fired is painful. It hurts when it's a layoff - and there isn't a day lately where I don't hear about another company...
How Your Dreams Can Take Flight at Disney
Whether you choose an airborne elephant, a magic carpet or the control center of a space shuttle hurdling towards Mars, there are many ways to make dreams take flight at...
Should You Wear Panty Hose to a Job Interview?
I've been in the midst of a conversation about whether you should - or shouldn't - wear panty hose to a job interview. Even the Wall Street Journal has...
How to Find a Part Time Job
Are you interested in finding a part time job? If so, there are lots of resources where you can search online for part time jobs that match your interests...
Minimum Wage Increase
The federal minimum wage, which is currrently $5.85 an hour, increases to $6.55 per hour this week. The increase goes into effect on July 24, 2008. This...
Job Interview Questions
What are you going to say when a hiring manager asks "Tell me about yourself?" or Why were you fired? - do you have an answer ready? If not,...
Do You Have a Great Job Search Letter?
Do you have a cover letter than helped you secure an interview? How about a thank you letter or follow up letter that got you a second interview or...
Looking for Adventurous Job Seekers
One Day One Job, the entry level jobs site, is looking for ten job seekers who are adventurous and up for anything, want to start a job in the next...
Writing Thank You Letters
The candidates for employment that make the best impression are the ones who take the time to say thank you after an interview. It doesn't take much time to...
Indie Music Jobs
Guest Author Heather McDonald has worked in nearly all aspects of the music industry, from independent record labels to acting as manager and buyer of a record store to tour...
About Job Searching
Job Searching
Best Tech Companies - Adobe Systems
I know quite a few Adobe Systems employees, and I have to admit, I don't hear many complaints about the work environment! Adobe was founded by former PARC employees John...
CISSP Certification
The CISSP certification - Certified Information Systems Security Professional - is among the highest paid of the technology certifications. With concerns about internet security and personal identification theft at all...
Cover Letter Writing
I get a lot of resumes (via email) with no cover letter. The resumes I do get with a nice cover letter allow me to focus in more on how...
Great Tech Companies - NetApp
Another great tech company to work for is NetApp which was known as Network Appliance until recently. NetApp ranks in the top of many employee satisfaction surverys, including the Fortune...
Email Etiquette
Once again, it's time for my quarterly reminder about email etiquette. In the absence of face to face or telephone communication, the emails you send form the basis of how...
Salary Details - Are You Being Paid What You Are Worth?
Despite economic troubles, the tech industry seems to be strong. Many tech companies are hiring like crazy, so now is a great time to take a look at your compensation...
Resume Example - Project Manager
I came across this great example of a technical Project Manager resume and thought I would share it. The resume showcases the candidate's technical and project management skills. Almost as...
Resume Writing Tips - How NOT to Write a Resume
A recent poll of technical recruiters and hiring managers asked for their top "pet peeves" - things they see on resumes and cover letters that make them less interested in...
Resumes for Techies - Tips, Ticks and Samples
We all need occasional resume tips - it's always handy to keep your resume up to date! One of the most common questions I get from job seekers is -...
Job Searching Online
I put together a comprehensive list of my favorite places online to find a job. I also added in some tricks and tips for using each of the websites on...
About Tech Careers
Tech Careers
Interviewing Ability May Help Your Career
I’ve been in email contact with Pradeep Soundararajan for a few months now. He was recently at a conference in Toronto, and has posted his The (bad) state of software testing interviews in India, which includes a pdf of a talk he gave about interviewing. He has several wonderful ideas, including:
Candidate and interview myths
Frequently asked [...]
Is Your Interviewing Helping or Hurting Your Recruiting?
Art Petty has a great post, Capturing Talent and Creating Great Customer Experiences: They Go Together. I really liked this part:
A manager that takes mid-interview smoke breaks and badgers a talented candidate about salary expectations is someone that I want working for my competitor.
I’m still astounded when I hear stories like that.
Separate Internal Job Titles from External Titles
I recently met a lead whose business card read “Lead Phoenix Developer.” I asked what that meant, and he explained that he was a technical lead for an project code-named Phoenix. His business card could have read “Lead Developer” or “Technical Lead” and made much more sense.
This almost happened to me today. I’m the conference [...]
Initiative vs. Entrepreneurship
Many hiring managers are looking for initiative, especially for agile team members. (In agile, the team members self-organize, which means they are looking for ways to do work better and to solve problems without requiring management’s involvement.)
I was thinking about initiative how to look for it, and I realized that at least some people with [...]
A Little More on How to Hire a Manager
Lisa has a nice post, How to Hire a Manager - A Time Tested Recipe. She’s close. I’m not so sure about the “humble” part, and I would add something like “advocates for team.”
But the piece Lisa missed is integrity. Without integrity, the other qualities, preferences, and non-technical skills are useless. To be fair, she [...]
Being Specific When Analyzing a Job
I led a 90-minute Hiring for an Agile Team workshop at AgileItx! this past week. I ask each team in the workshop to call out a candidate’s quality, preference, or non-technical skill that they look for in a team. One of the teams said, “teamwork.”
Well, teamwork means a lot of things to lots of people, [...]
Why is Ageism Alive and Well?
One of the nice things about the social networking sites such as LinkedIn, is that they allow me to reconnect with people I worked with years ago. I recently re-met a colleague from my undergraduate days, and a colleague I worked with 25 years ago.
I mentioned to one of these colleagues’ peers that I’d know [...]
What Are Your Expectations for New Grads?
Jack Vinson writes in New Grad Hires: Ready and Willing, but Are They Able?,
The solution is to hire people who have the general skills, capability, and/or experience you need and then train them in the missing aspects. That’s the way it has always been.
For technical staff, expect to spend time helping them develop interpersonal [...]
What Makes a Great Technical Manager
Jurgen’s post, How to Select a Fine Technical Manager, along with the posts he responded to prompted this one. I’m not agreeing much with Jurgen today. I suspect it’s because we have very different experience. In my experience, only technical people who want to manage want to be managers–unless HR has screwed up the salary [...]
Q&A with the Recruiting Animal
For the recruiter interview series, I had a conversation with the Recruiting Animal:
JR: How long have you been in the recruiting field?
RA: Over ten years.
JR: Do you have any specialties?
RA: I’m a generalist but I have done a number ofsearches for internal auditors in recent years. I have also worked on teams recruiting a wide [...]
Hiring Technical People
Hiring technical people and being hired can be difficult, no matter what the economy is doing. Use the tips here to hire better, or find a new job.
Moving to a New Home
Note: "Ask the Recruiter" has moved to Poynter's new Career Center. The new home is here. Remember to change your bookmark. I will keep this page active so you can follow along. I think you'll like the new home, as...
What Kind of Ownership is Best?
Q: I am a recent graduate with internship experience. I just received a job at a small family owned newspaper. I really want to move up to a larger newspaper after I work here for a couple of years. Does...
Applying for a Job In-House?
Q: Recently, a new job opening came open in my department for a position that -- on first glance -- seemed intriguing. It was new and a chance to get in the ground floor of something. So, I did the...
Leave Without Two-Week Notice?
Q: I recently graduated college and have been interning at a large metro in the meantime while I look for jobs. I went to a job interview in another state for a couple of days and told my editors and...
How to Spin a Career Change?
Q: I have been in the newspaper industry for just under 10 years and have always believed in the media and believed it would perform well for several more generations. Over the last year I have watched as that passion...
Rough Crossing for Foreign Journalist?
Q: I read your column every day and I think you give excellent advice, so I'm hoping you can help me with my situation. I'm a British journalist engaged to a New Yorker. We plan to get married as soon...
Why Did Recruiter Lose Interest?
Q: I and my journalist friends are often puzzled by the behavior of editors -- generally, of course -- but in this case, specifically during the courtship phase of the hiring process. Why is it that encouraging, flattering talks with...
Time to Quit My Job?
Q: My editor is a real fascist. She micro-manages everything I do. She never admits when she's wrong or when she makes mistakes. Rather, she places the blame on other people. Working with her has become the worst. The other...
Freelancing in the Majors to a Job at 50,000?
Q: I spent three years as a beat reporter at a pair of small newspapers, picking up a statewide award for my reporting at one point, before taking up work as a freelancer at a major American newspaper. My writing...
Overcoming My Young Age
Q: I'm a second-semester freshman who was admitted to a school of journalism directly, with most of my prerequisites filled by high school AP tests and dual enrollment classes. Because of these things, it's likely that I will be able...
Joe Grimm's News Jobs Caf: Ask the recruiter
This job log answers questions about newspaper careers. Advice comes from Joe Grimm, recruiter at the Detroit Free Press.
Pay to College Fundraisers, Staff Shows Strong Growth
(AFP eWire) Salaries of fundraisers at U.S. colleges and universities have seen strong growth in recent years, according to a recent survey.
Closing the Deal on a Career in Sales
(Job Journal) If you've got a talent for sales, the hiring door is always open.
Career Snapshot: Firefighter
(Job Journal) These everyday heroes face extraordinary challenges and reap satisfying rewards.
Brazen Careerist: Online Job Hunting Hints
(Job Journal) Making the most of online resources for finding employment.
Decipher Job Postings
(AskMen.com) Here are the true meanings of eight popular phrases you'll encounter when you decipher job postings.
Gas Pains Cause Discomfort for Employees, Jobseekers
(Job Journal) With gas prices hitting record levels comes a silver lining for jobseekers. As pressure to find alternative energy sources increases, demand for workers is rising. Find out which businesses are prospering and how you can get involved.
Career Snapshot: Medical Assistants
(Job Journal) With both clinical and administrative skills, medical assistants are just what the doctor ordered.
Career Pros: Your Next Blind Date
(Job Journal) A job interview and a blind date have a lot in common.
Newspapers Bleed Red Ink: Death by Internet
(Search Engine Watch) Journalists are a dying breed. Newspapers face death by Internet. It's time to rethink journalism as a career choice.
Column: In the pipeline
(Chemistry World) This is not a good time to be an ordinary, interchangeable scientist in the drug industry, because the ordinary scientists are usually the first ones to be shown the door.
Little Boxes' Big 4-0
(Entrepreneur) As the cubicle turns 40, we look back at the great (and not-so-great) moments in cube history.
Stress Case
(Entrepreneur) Learn how to take stress by the reins, and your company will reap the benefits.
Rush Hour
(Entrepreneur) Don't let downtime turn into lost time. Learn how to make the most of it.
Are You a Considerate Co-Worker?
(Job Journal) In the workplace, courtesy and kindness can be the difference between success and failure. Here are more tips on how to be considerate at work.
Quick Fix: Are co-Workers Prepared for Your Vacation?
(Job Journal) Make sure your co-workers are prepared for your absence.
Career Pros: The Information Avalanche
(Job Journal) An unfortunate, unintended consequence of the Information Age.
Emotional Mismanagement
(BusinessWeek) What's a manager to do about feelings in business? Why, manage them, of course. Read on for some advice on this subject.
4 Steps: Cancel Plans
(AskMen.com) These four effective steps to canceling plans won't be getting any endorsements from etiquette experts, but they should allow you to cancel plans without losing a friend in the process.
Mr. Mafioso's Hit List
(AskMen.com) This hit list is about types of people who disrupt the smooth flow of business.
Effective Goal-Setting
(Advisor Today) Without effective goals, your hard work may not produce meaningful results.
Taking Lean Beyond the Plant Floor
(IndustryWeek) Plastics manufacturer involves suppliers and customers in lean training program.
Wipro's University-like Ambitions to Dominate Outsourcing
(Fast Company) Why Indian companies like the offshoring giant Wipro are supplanting the educational system to develop the employees they need
Eglin Prepares to Open F-35 Training Center
(National Defense) Lockheed Martin Corp. is building a high-tech training center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., which will be used by all F-35 pilots and maintainers.
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