'Now ever since I was young it's been my dream That I might drive a Zamboni machine I'd get the ice just as slick as could be And all the kids would look up to me.'- Gear Daddies, 'The Zamboni Song,' bonus track from Billy's Live BaitThose lyrics from the Gear Daddies' ode to the ZAMBONI ice resurfacing machine are fitting for Al Sobotka, keeper of the ice at Joe Louis Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings. Sobotka, a lifelong hockey fan, began working at the arena when he was in high school.'It was just a job I got when I was in high school, and I kept at it, working in the maintenance departm... view article details

Sometimes life is all about timing. A missed flight connection can have a ripple effect, a stock market aberration can help (or hurt) your financial standing, and leaving a restaurant 10 minutes before your favorite sports team or band rolls in and buys everyone a round becomes a story of what might have been.Timing is a key factor in your job search as well. Of course, people are hired or fired every single day of the year, and companies hold reviews all the time: at the end of the calendar year, end of the fiscal year, the anniversary of your hire date, or handing out a promotion on the spot... view article details

Sometimes It's Not Them -- It's You We all have friends (or maybe YOU are the friend and just don’t realize it) who have been job-hunting for what seems like an eternity. They look through the help wanted ads, scour job boards and go on their fair share of interviews, each time thinking they 'nailed it.' But their optimism is soon broken by the hammer blow of rejection, and they’re still unemployed.Which begs the question, why?There are a thousand different potential reasons. Some are valid, others arbitrary. But even though employers will likely never reveal the true reasons behind t... view article details

Don't Let These Common Mistakes Cost You When Negotiating a Job Offer Salary Negotiation is About Facts, Not Myths A rough translation of a myth could be "a legendary story, usually concerning a hero or event, especially one that is concerned with deities or some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature." Many people play up salary negotiation as some kind of mythical exploit, as if a Cyclops from human resources was guarding a 10 percent salary increase. Perhaps only few select heroes can effectively navigate this rite of passage and pierce the heavily guarded castle. In reality, as author... view article details

How Older Workers Can Better Overcome Obstacles to Getting Hired Older Workers Have a Tougher Time Getting a Job While the U.S. job market continues to make slow but steady gains, finding a job in the current economy is still challenging. All job seekers today face significantly more obstacles than they did a decade ago, but those over the age of 50 have a few extra hurdles to clear. According to a recent survey done by ExecuNet, a member organization for senior-level executives, a Vice President over the age of 50 takes 20% longer to get hired than a 41- to 45-year-old at the same level. W... view article details

It's Tough to Succeed When You're Sending All the Wrong Messages Your Personal Brand is Critical for Success Donald Trump. Martha Stewart. Mark Zuckerberg. Sarah Palin. Chances are you can think of a few things to say about each of them based on the impressions you’ve gathered about their personal brands -- however unconsciously -- complete with triumphs, missteps, and various forms of public humiliation and scandal. And depending on what those critically managed (not always successfully) impressions are, and by how many they are held, the lives and affairs of the Trumps, Stewarts and Palin... view article details

Horrendous Resumes Actually Submitted to Hiring Managers So Much for First Impressions... Resumes and cover letters are often the first things seen by hiring managers and the deciding factors that determine whether or not you get a job interview. Armed with that knowledge, most people spend copious amounts of time crafting them, honing them, and even paying professionals to write it for them. And then there are those who don’t. The following examples will likely be difficult to believe, but there really are some people out there who give zero thought to how they come across to potential em... view article details

With the unemployment rate hovering at 4.5 percent, "calling in sick" or taking unplanned time off has fallen out of fashion to such an extent that experts have invented a word to describe it -- "presenteeism." The phenomenon results in employees coming to work even when they shouldn't. That's right -- there are legitimate reasons to call off work. The rules below apply whether your company has combined paid time off (PTO), or separate sick, vacation, and personal days. Valid reason 1: Contagious illness, such as the common cold or flu. There's no better reason to stay home than legitimate si... view article details

Real-Life Examples of Negotiation Done Right & Wrong What Works & What Doesn't? Ever wonder what works and what doesn't regarding salary negotiation and asking for a raise? We asked you, our readers, about your last negotiating experience and it was easy to see what worked, what didn't, and why. Here are some real-life examples of salary negotiations along with our advice about what they did right, wrong, and how they could've handled things better. Go Big or Go Home Date of last raise: 2012 Prior salary research: Yes Raise request: 35% Raise received: 22% User comments: "The main idea is... view article details

Weigh 'Need vs Greed' When Negotiating Salary at a Nonprofit Nonprofits are a Different Animal When you’re an employee at MegaCorp and the CEO travels to the shareholder meeting in his private jet to announce that they’ve exceeded Q4 revenue predictions by $200 million, it’s not too difficult to look at the company’s success, negotiate hard for a raise, and say “How about a little something for me?” But what happens when you work for a nonprofit and you’re not dealing with mergers and acquisitions, but rather microfinance loans to empower women or access to clean drinking water in developin... view article details