Dear Annette,One of my teammates is a slacker. I'm tired of carrying his weight. What can I say or do?AtlasDear Atlas,I'll never forget the time Dickie had to fire his pedicurist for inattention and neglect. We were being recognized on International Women's Day in the thrice-named, fictitious Eastern European country where I was born. As we processed down the aisle of the newly repatriated 11th-century cathedral where the ceremony took place, Dickie went 'clickie-clickie' all the way to the altar, paw-nails reverberating for seven seconds. It was as if Pravda's Cold War typing pool were taking... view article details

If Your Resume Isn't Opening Doors, Get Some Professional Help Is It Worth the Money? Job searching sure is expensive. After all, it costs money to dry clean your interview suit, fill up your tank and drive to each and every job interview. And at a time when you’re counting every nickel and dime, you don’t want to spend any more cash than necessary. But if you’ve been job searching for some time without success, it may not be what you’re saying, but how you’re coming across on paper. That’s where a resume writer comes in. Resume writers are not just professional writers, but they’re experts... view article details

Ways to Gain Negotiating Leverage Even When the Salary is Fixed Is it fair for a company to offer a job with a non-negotiable salary? Sometimes life isn’t fair. This is especially true in the job market, where one person might quickly land their dream job and increase their salary by $10,000, while the next person might be unemployed for months, be forced to tap into their savings, before finally taking an unfulfilling job at a low salary. I recently came across the following question: “How fair is it for a company to offer a job with a non-negotiable salary? It is considered an entry-lev... view article details

This summer, Americans were paying, on average, $4.09 per gallon for regular unleaded gasoline to fuel the vehicles they rely on to get to and from work everyday. This represents an increase of $1.14 over the same time last year.Salary.com™ set out to calculate just how much the escalating cost of commuting to work is eating into the average worker's take home pay. To accomplish this, we established some reasonable criteria.The average worker travels, round-trip, 29 miles each day. Vehicle fuel economy varies, but we will assume an average fuel efficiency rate of 18.8 miles per gallon. We will... view article details

'Salary.com uncovered the top (and bottom) US metros for building personal net worth, taking into account local salaries, cost of living, and unemployment relative to the national average.'  Are you considering moving to a new town? Maybe your earnings just aren't up to par with the cost of living in your current city. 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 metros for building personal net worth, taking into accoun... view article details

Things Are Not As They Seem You too can be a millionaire!Everyone knows all it takes is a little disciplined saving and some shrewd investment, and your retirement will take care of itself. Just skip your daily latte, invest those savings, and let the miracle of compound interest do the rest. Right?Not so fast, says journalist Helaine Olen, whose new book Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry argues that the financial services industry has long been selling what, for many, is an impossible dream. Olen took a few minutes last week to answer some questio... view article details

There is no escaping the fact that college costs are rising. The College Board reports that most students and their families can expect to pay, on average, from $95 to $1,440 more than last year for this year’s tuition and fees, depending on the type of college attended. Average College Costs for 2007-2008: Private four year $23,712 (up 6.3 % from last year) Public four-year $6,185 (up 6.6 %from last year) Public two-year $2,361 (up 4.2% from last year) Financing Options Families are encouraged to seek federally backed loans first, then shop for private loans, based in part on the recommend... view article details

Q. Our company has filed under Chapter 11 with no financial backing. The company is being sold. Our accounts payable supervisor got another offer and put in her notice, but the company countered with a pay-to-stay package. She gets six months of severance pay with three months up front.I am very angry, since I was committed to working until the end after taking a 10 percent cut in pay with hopes of staying on with whoever buys us. How do I confront the CEO who offered her this package to get the same deal? Currently we have no severance package.A. Companies can offer employees incentives to st... view article details

Halloween, Job Search, and You Halloween is big business. According to an infographic by History.com last year, giant pumpkins have tipped the scales at 1,810 pounds, the average American will consume 24 pounds of candy, and 120 million people will dress up in a costume -- with 11.5% of them also dressing up their pet.It also seems that each year the costumes become more and more elaborate, with some people spending hours and hours on the perfect look. It’s enough to make you wonder what would happen if these people spent as much time thinking about their career as they did applying z... view article details

Who is looking out for your career - your boss? Probably not. Your accountant? Doubtful. Headhunters, search people, and employment agencies may seem to have your interests in mind, but they're retained - and paid - by the company. So although they can be very nice to you, at the end of the day, their goal is to place candidates and collect a fee.It's time to think like an entrepreneur, with marketable business skills and abilities. It's time to conceive of your career as a high-potential venture, with you as CEO. In this environment, you've got to be your own agent.Learn to look out for your ... view article details