How workplace candy bowls may be affecting your health

Posted on August 29, 2011
Filed Under Employment, Health | Leave a Comment

I’ll be honest. Although I am neither a huge fan of deserts (in fact, I am regularly reprimanded by friends and family for my complete lack of a “sweet tooth”) nor a candy-holic, at work, I am a complete candy junky. With candy dishes abounding, I become a candy fiend—a connoisseur of all things sugary and sweet. This perk of the workplace—a simple gesture intended to promote good will and dialogue—has a dark side, however. Even though candy bowls may be filled with bite-sized items (allowing the candy’s eater to feel less shameful about his or her decision to partake in a bit of caloric binging), for the dieter, or even just the healthy eater, these glass dishes are packed to the brim with neatly wrapped temptation that can set the tempted on a slippery slope to unhealthy eating. Read more

Dr. Evil Unemployment, superhero capes, and one agency’s campaign to combat joblessness

Posted on August 25, 2011
Filed Under Employment, Finding a Job, Recession | Leave a Comment

At the close of Plato’s dialogue Symposium, Socrates finds himself immersed in a late-night libation-fueled discussion with the famous ancient comedic playwright Aristophanes and a number of others about the interconnection between tragedy and comedy—arguing that each are, essentially, two sides of the same coin. You can distill Socrates’ profound statement about human suffering into a simple adage, “One man’s comedy is another man’s tragedy.” One Florida labor agency recently may have crossed this line, designing a campaign initiative which effectively and unwittingly makes light of human tragedy for its own gains. What comprised this highly divisive and much derided campaign initiative against unemployment? Two things: superhero capes and Dr. Evil Unemployment. Read more

How to stay happy at work

Posted on August 22, 2011
Filed Under Employment, Health, Hiring Forecast, Keeping your Job | Leave a Comment

As a result of the economic downturn in 2008, workers are surrounded by negative jobs report data, a rather inhospitable labor market, and a burgeoning population of long-term unemployed. In this climate, it is no surprise when workers feel a greater pressure to perform and have had to do more with less. As one might expect, many workers in such situations associate the workplace with stress and even rancor. In such as harsh economic climate, it is no surprise that CareerBuilder’s Q2 2011 Hiring Report showed that widespread salary increases do not yet seem to be on the mind of employers. In this report, 39% of respondents indicated no change between salary levels in Q2 2010 and Q2 2011. This figure, when coupled with the added pressures of a still unreliable economy and the type of fear it induces, might be connected to (or a cause for) employers reporting in another CareerBuilder survey released this past December that workers were already too “burned out” to match last year’s performance. While this paints a grim picture, workers can do some things to alleviate stress and feelings of unhappiness in the workplace. Read more

Re-establishing your professional network

Posted on August 18, 2011
Filed Under Career Change, Employment, Finding a Job, Networking, Social Network | Leave a Comment

Something promoted often on this blog is the idea that job seekers should actively leverage professional contacts, friends, or family for job leads. The fact is, after internal hires, recruiters place a great deal of reliance on referrals. In fact, according to a recent study, referrals represent “the #1 source for external hires.” In that light, those who have not maintained their network may have difficulty finding jobs via referral. This raises the question, how does someone breathe new life into a professional network which has been allowed to wither? Read more

Exploring the link between employment and experiential education

Posted on August 15, 2011
Filed Under Employment, Finding a Job, First Job, Internship | Leave a Comment

While there are many different job strategies from which new graduates might choose, there is perhaps only one that has proven, for the most part, its ability to put students and new graduates at the front of a long line of new job seekers seeking entry-level work: an internship. Quickly becoming a critical tool for employers and students alike, the internship as experiential education is both a means for students to gain critical professional skills and for employers to pre-screen potential job candidates and to carefully select new hires based on actual performance and demonstrated potential. In fact, Joe Light of The Wall Street Journal reports that keen employers have now taken to the practice of pinpointing fresh talent as early as possible. Read more

keep looking »

Recently


Categories


Archives