Dear Jack,I asked for a raise six months ago and was given a 10% bump, but wasn’t happy with it. My boss asked me what I would be happy with, but said it wouldn’t meet my goal of $50,000 a year. So I took a couple of minutes and said $45,000. I was hoping he would see that I am worth more than that and give me more money in the future, but it hasn’t happened. I am very unhappy in my job because of this and would like to ask for more, but not sure if I should because of our previous conversation six months ago.Thank you,K Hello K, If you are a good and valued worker, your boss has not forgotten... view article details

They Didn't All Win Oscars, But These Work-Related Movies Hold a Special Place in Our Hearts And the Oscar Goes to... The nominees for this year's Academy Awards feature whimsy and fantasy, wartime adventures and family dramas. These movies may be praiseworthy, but they largely lack any perspective on the things that occupy most viewers' daily lives: impersonal cubicles, tedious commutes, the chances of promotion. We, therefore, have assembled an alternate list of deserving films that offers a peek into what it is to be a worker, striving for career advancement and negotiating all the hurdl... view article details

Rich or Poor, Offer Letters Are Still Necessary If you’ve worked at any level in the corporate world, you’ve probably received an offer letter of employment. As a teenager, your first job offer – babysitting, mowing lawns, washing dishes, waiting tables – was probably pretty informal. Ah, but that first official offer letter.Sure, things might have gone great on your interview. You’re 99% sure they’re going to give you the job. Hopefully you negotiated a nice salary increase. You can’t wait to tell your parents and friends. And HR even verbally said you got the position. But it wasn’t... 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

One way to blow off steam and recharge your batteries at work is to chat with co-workers. While talking about topics unrelated to work may seem unproductive, it actually helps to build the relationships that are necessary for good teamwork and workplace morale. However, it's important to remember that no matter how comfortable with or friendly toward your co-workers you feel, there are simply some topics that are better suited to Saturday night than Monday morning. This article explores seven topics that are acceptable, and seven topics that are taboo.Water cooler do: Su... view article details

Careers That Don't Require You to Commute Farther Than Your Living Room Yahoo! Makes Waves by Banning Work-from-Home Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo!, caused quite a stir this week when she told her employees they would no longer be allowed to work at home. And in doing so, both sides of the always contentious debate have sprung into action either supporting Mayer's decision or lambasting it. Mayer and Yahoo! have said their policy is not a referendum on the wisdom of working at home, but simply what's best for the company. They feel nothing truly replaces face-time and person-to-person interac... view article details

Welcome Back for Another Round of Wasting Time at Work Do you waste time at work? Are you reading this in the office right now while you’re supposed to be working? Don’t worry, you’re not alone.Our annual “Wasting Time at Work” survey is back and better (or worse if you’re an employer) than ever. We asked people about their work habits, whether or not they take breaks during the day, what they do in that time, and much more. More than 750 of you answered us to provide some great insight into the habits of American workers.So, before you start filling out March Madness brackets, take s... view article details

If stay-at-home moms earned an annual salary for all the jobs they perform on a daily basis, how much would they earn? Today, we've released the results of our annual Mom Salary Survey – just in time for Mother's Day! This year, we estimated the value of a mother's work by tracking real-time market prices of all the jobs that moms perform. The result? The median annual salary for stay-at-home moms in 2019 is $178,201 – rising $15,620 (a 9.6% increase) from the 2018 mother's worth calculation. This year's study gave consideration to traditional roles – like housekeeper, dietitian, and day care ... view article details

Do You Not Play Well with Others? Effective networking is a game-changer. It’s the unofficial homework of today’s business professional. Whether entwined within charitable ventures or business or social clubs, professional connections are far more powerful career-builders than the old school resume. It’s not just 'who you know.' It’s 'who you know who knows who you want to know.'Most of us can navigate a room of name-tagged citizenry with reasonable success. But in this competitive world, why settle for adequacy? Read on for a few of the ways some networkers relegate themselves to the... view article details

A collection of degrees and a host of credentials is all well and good, but if you don't have the right attitude at work you'll likely be shown the door. And that's a costly outcome for both employee and employer.Mark Murphy is the author of 'Hiring for Attitude: A Revolutionary Approach to Recruiting & Selecting People with Both Tremendous Skill & Superb Attitude.' He's also this week's guest on Salary Talk, and tells Aaron and Wendy the hard truth about the way companies hire employees today -- that most of the standard approaches to hiring are wrong.Past employment at Fortune 500 companies ... view article details