Workers Are Not Happy At first glance, things seem to be getting better these days. We’re told the U.S. is in a period of gradual economic recovery, more companies are now hiring again, and unemployment continues to inch downward.But as we head into the last few months of the year, it appears many American workers haven’t gotten the memo about the good news, and are preparing for a winter of discontent.While unemployment is on the decline, underemployment is still a problem as the number of people who have given up looking for work and those who work part-time but seek full-time jobs,... view article details

In looking to negotiate the highest salary, the logic might look like this: In order to be in a position to negotiate, you need to have an offer. To receive an offer, you need to get the interview. The best way to secure an interview is through networking. And with more than 300 million members worldwide, LinkedIn.com is the top source for job seekers to build out their professional network online.Whether you’re in job search mode or not, with more than 2 new members joining LinkedIn every second, it’s likely that a new request to connect is hitting your inbox on a regular basis.How do you dea... view article details

Are Young Workers "Lost?" A recent piece in the New York Times by Todd G. Buchholz and Victoria Buchholz calls 20-somethings the 'go-nowhere generation' based on their statistical reluctance to relocate for work. They note, 'The likelihood of 20-somethings moving to another state has dropped well over 40 percent since the 1980s, according to calculations based on Census Bureau data…According to the Pew Research Center, the proportion of young adults living at home nearly doubled between 1980 and 2008, before the Great Recession hit.'Whether or not you believe Millennials are sedentary... view article details

Disintermediate. Recontextualize. Envisioneer. You’ve got to give business executives one thing: They love their jargon. Clinging to their buzzwords like Leo DiCaprio to a life raft, there are managers out there who seem to enjoy a squirt of dopamine every time they use a verb like architect (yes, as a verb!) or interface. Throw in some adjectives like constructivist, interdisciplinary, metacognitive or inquiry-centered, and then tack them on to nouns like bandwidth, convergence and methodologies and you’re well on your way to a minor stroke as you try to process the message lurking behind all... view article details

In 1982, the Village Voice started the trend of offering domestic-partner benefits, or benefits an employer voluntarily decides to offer to an employee's unmarried partner of the same or opposite sex, to its employees. The cities of Berkeley and West Hollywood, Calif., followed suit in 1985. And since then, about 3,500 employers - including nearly one-fifth of Fortune 500 companies - have offered domestic-partner benefits, according to Kim Mills, education director for the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay and lesbian political organization.'[The trend] really took off in the IT sector in ... view article details

roductivity Nightmare or Communications Dream?No longer just a tool of the idle masses exchanging rumors and recipes, instant messaging (IM) applications have encroached into the working world, where professionals swap industry information, gossip, and expertise in the blink of an eye. Instead of traipsing down the hall, making an abrupt phone call, or waiting for an e-mailed response, employees can communicate with one another via online text, 'pinging' each other questions and requests, speeding up reaction rate and increasing productivity. According to a recent Jupiter Media Metrix report, ... view article details

How does a college kid with no experience go from being a complete homer to drawing Homer (Simpson) professionally? For Brad Ableson, it was a little luck and a metric ton of hard work. Ableson, now 36, spent 15 years as an animator and storyboard artist for The Simpsons, the infamous animated TV sitcom that has been on the air for more than two decades. That means when Homer dishes out his patented 'Why you little---' and starts to throttle his mischievous son Bart, there's a good chance it was Ableson who came up with the angle, the actions and everything else that brings the characters to ... view article details

In Part 1 of the series Successful Job Transitions, we looked at how to stay in control of your job search.   Now that we're moving on to that new job, here are some tips for continuing your smooth job transition during the stickiest part of that transition: The final two weeks.It's why they're called "significant" others Before marching into the CEO's office to share a celebratory 'I quit!' make sure your spouse, children, bank manager and golden retriever know what you are up to. If you want them behind you, be up front. Just as this transition can b... view article details

In the early evening on a recent Thursday, Kiran Arora, a consultant at the compensation firm Watson & Wyatt Worldwide, was getting ready to leave for the weekend. No, it wasn't a holiday or a long weekend. Her work week runs Mondays through Thursdays. Arora traded in that one extra day each week to spend time with her family and her children.In a 2000 poll of more than 3,500 company executives by recruiting firm Management Recruiters International, Inc., 61 percent of the participants believed the 9-to-5 workday will disappear in the next 10 years.According to a 1998 study by the Employment P... view article details

Feeling at Ease with Negotiating Here’s a test. Over the past year, what has been the typical response when you ask people “How’ve you been?” My guess is that very few answer, “Actually, I’ve been incredibly relaxed, calm, and productive.” Most likely they say, “I’m so busy!” “Things have been so crazy!” “I’m so swamped at work!” “I’m exhausted and busy and crazy!” I could go on.So when the end of the year rolls around, it seems that is the time that people finally set aside time to be with family, unplug from the working world, relax and recover. But what if you could feel more relax... view article details