Ask anyone who's ever sold a home, and they'll tell you how seriously they took the process of selecting a real estate agent to represent them. It's likely they also took a proactive role in ensuring that the agent worked hard to market their home. When it comes to home buyers however, the number of people who end up with a real estate agent by accident is amazing. The person who helps you find and buy your house is integral to the success of the process, which is why buyers ought to put the same effort into finding an agent as home sellers would.Who's who in real estate agentsTo find the righ... view article details

Form a Game Plan The kind of hat you wear can speak volumes about you, and set you apart from the crowd. A trendy fedora might mean you’re a Brooklyn hipster or a big Don Draper fan. Perhaps you don the type of pork pie hat that Justin Timberlake often rocks. A knit skullcap might keep you warm in the winter, or send another message if you wear it year-round. And even the brim of a baseball cap is polarizing: flat as a board or curved like an upside-down U.Sometimes however, wearing many hats in the workplace – figuratively, doing several different jobs – can make it a challenge to di... view article details

Networking is Essential Industry conferences offer outstanding opportunities for networking. They’re ideal places to meet new people, catch up with those you already know and -- if you plan it right -- introduce yourself to your next employer. But that's easier said than done, especially if you're new to the conference scene or you've never been taught any networking skills. But whether you're an extrovert who fits naturally into any situation or someone who has a hard time meeting and talking to new people, networking is a necessary skill if you're looking to get ahead.With that in m... view article details

Is your paycheck not stretching far enough? Are you considering moving to a new town? Perhaps you're even having trouble finding a job. If so, it may be time to look at one of the cities at the top of Salary.com's Salary Value Index. The compensation experts at Salary.com uncovered the top (and bottom) US cities for building personal net worth, taking into account local salaries, cost of living, and unemployment relative to the national average. This year's list also factored in qualitative measures including diversity of industry, education level of the cities' population, proximity to post s... view article details

Look Beyond Salary & Benefits Before Accepting a New Job Evaluating the Intangibles You finally have the formal job offer in hand. But wait! Suddenly, out of nowhere, that long-shot interview you went on paid off. Now you've got not one, but two job offers in hand and you need to make a decision. Granted we're talking champagne problems here, but this is a decision that will affect you for years to come, so you'd better look at every aspect of both jobs and examine everything carefully. This will be your home away from home for the foreseeable future and a lot is riding on your decision. He... view article details

The Eye of the Beholder David's office looks like the interior of an English country house: oriental carpets, antiques, and walls covered in pale blue silk damask. "This environment is intended to resemble the types of interiors in which my clients live," said David, a dealer in Old Master paintings and drawings at a gallery in New York City. For window shoppers, the gallery maintains street-level showrooms. Collectors willing to drop from $250,000 to $12 million ring the unmarked doorbell and are shown upstairs to private viewing rooms to see objects selected just for them. "We find extraordi... view article details

The New Media Age has introduced many unique job opportunities to the market. People can now get paid for their design ideas on Pinterest, they can develop a steady income stream by promoting products on Instagram or personal blogs, and they can even cash in from buying and selling digital assets known as cryptocurrency. One Internet Age job that sounds particularly fun is getting paid to record yourself doing the things you love. This dream job is a reality for many YouTube stars. YouTube sensations including Felix Kjellberg, Mark Fischbach, Evan Fong, and Daniel Middleton record their reacti... view article details

Once upon a time good employees updated their job skills and advanced to the next career level with the regularity of Mario questing for Princess Peach.But then technology proliferated, and the well-read encyclopedia salesman, savvy VCR repairman and worldly travel agent either faded away or morphed into updated versions of their former selves.Are you prepared for an evolving work environment or, worse, job extinction? Don't be the Cro Magnon who creates trendy CD artwork in an MP3 world.Check out these jobs on the brink and remember,clever and creative are transferable skills -- if you're ada... view article details

Your Desk Speaks for You -- Even When You're Not There It speaks for you even when you're out of the office doing your thing to make the company wildly successful. Positive words? We hope. But it can also interrupt and speak out of turn, relaying completely unauthorized messages.Your desk. What does it say about you? Does it convey the message 'Respect the owner of this hallowed professional space?' or 'Attention: creativity in progress?' Or does it warn 'Caution: finding that file is going to take a while?'Your positive words & actions still speak loudest, but they'll have less impac... view article details

Do you have the Boss From Hell? Is he/she an Insatiable Narcissist? Is one of your coworkers a Veteran Hack or Spineless Sycophant? If so, this podcast is for you.This week, Aaron and Wendy interview Vicky Oliver, who wrote the book 'Bad Bosses, Crazy Coworkers & Other Office Idiots: 201 Smart Ways to Handle the Toughest People Issues.' And in doing so, she provided employees everywhere with a reference guide for the various categories of horrible bosses, exasperating coworkers and just about every office problem in existence. She identifies issues, gives solutions and helps you figure out how... view article details