Advice
Share Your Best Tip for Using Social Media to Get Hired
Editorial Team 7
We’re looking for your best advice—and specific success stories—on how you’re using social media in your job search. Which sites do you use—and what exactly are you doing to advance your job search online? Did you get connected to your current employer through an online social network? Let us know what’s working and why and you may be featured in an upcoming national TV segment.
Post your comments and tips here.
Stressed at Work?
Editorial Team 5
To prep for a Good Morning America segment this morning on stress in the workplace, I asked women to write to me about it.
I got a flood of emails in response—honest and heartfelt (heartbreaking too) letters that described workplace nightmares that caused them to quit, damaged their self-esteem, or left them doubting that solutions may exist.
“It was to the point that I was vomiting before going to work in the final months out of pure dread because every week my supervisor was b*tching (excuse my French) about something and nitpicking,” said D. “I don’t regret leaving that job one bit, even in this economy.”
K talked about being forced to take a severance package from her $50,000 a year sales job—just months after a painful bought with cancer that naturally reduced her productivity at work.
“Now at 59 I am unemployed and a cancer survivor, two strikes against me in this youth oriented culture,” she wrote. “Tory, I worked 43 years and paid taxes every year and now society just wants to toss me aside when I look, feel and have the energy of a 30 year old. It is not right! Prior to my illness, I ran circles around the kids in their 20s and 30s, had a better work ethic, shut my cell phone off at work and did not surf the net, except for professional matters.”
And another woman, B, wrote about leaving a “toxic environment” at a call center with abusive managers.
“The stress was incredible,” she said. “My family complained that I was always cranky, I couldn’t sleep well. I was gaining weight. I was an absolutely miserable person to be around because I was so frustrated and angry. I couldn’t enjoy personal outings or hobbies because I was always stressed about the work that needed to be done, even on weekends and evenings. We were expected to be on calls night and day with people from the other half of the world.”
D has found a part-time job and B has moved on as well. “A place that respects their employees is invigorating,” she told me. “I’m happy. I even look forward to coming to work in the morning. My kids have commented that I’m much more fun to be around and they don’t have to be scared of me yelling at them anymore (isn’t that sad?). I can enjoy life. I am taking care of myself again, and have regained my confidence in my abilities.”
Good for them.
But as I read these e-mails and countless others like them, one thing kept coming back to me again and again: It shouldn’t be this way—and it doesn’t have to be this way.
Five Career Tips — From A Veteran
Editorial Team 2
Wall Street Journal columnist Joann S. Lublin, who has been writing the paper’s career column since 1993, offers five best tips for managing your career.
Performance Reviews: Results Count Now
Editorial Team 1
Employers are overhauling employee evaluations to better separate top performers from underachievers, The Wall Street Journal reports. Hewitt Associates estimates 10% of managers and 11% of other employees are now judged solely on the results, as opposed to a mix of results and softer metrics such as showing leadership, up from 7% and 8% five years ago. Nearly a third of execs are judged solely on results, up from just over a fifth in 2005.
Mistakes Jobseekers Make
Editorial Team
The Wall Street Journal takes a look at common mistakes that job seekers make, which recruiters say can take them out of the running. Among them: a sense of entitlement, rudeness, arrogance and lying. One recruiter says some of the behavior is so outrageous that she thinks she’s being secretly taped by a TV reality show.
I Want to Work – 9 Tips to Unleash Your Potential in Today’s Job Market, with Practical Tips
Editorial Team 42
Updated: 13 June, 2023
By Emi Leon
In June 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 3.6 percent of Americans were unemployed and actively seeking work. Learn the ins and outs of job hunting, from identifying your skills and passion, to optimizing your job search strategy and mastering interviews. Discover how to create a standout resume, and navigate job offers with confidence. Survive and thrive in any workplace and explore the future of work and career growth with this insightful guide. Unveil your path from “I want to work” to “I am happy in my work“, and transform your career journey into a rewarding and fulfilling experience.