Work Like A Dog Books knows real estate professionals work hard for a living. The publisher asks realtors to describe the craziest thing that has ever happened to them.

Work Like A Dog Books is compiling funny, outrageous and heartwarming stories for 'All In a Day's Work for Realtors(R) - Humorous and Heartwarming Stories.'

The book will be a compilation of true stories by real estate professionals detailing funny, heartwarming and one-of-a-kind stories about the many things that can and have happened to realtors in the course of their jobs. It will be a book for realtors, by realtors.

Entries are being sought by real estate professionals across the country for possible publication in the upcoming book. Believed to be the first of its kind, 'All In a Day's Work for Realtors - Humorous and Heartwarming Stories' is designed to celebrate and acknowledge this often misunderstood career field.

Entries must be received by July 30, 2005. They may be e-mailed to editor@WorkLikeaDogBooks.com with 'All in a Day's Work for Realtors story submission' typed in the subject line or mailed to Work Like A Dog Books, Essay Entry, PO Box 4713, Canton, GA 30114.

All entries must be true accounts of something that happened in the course of being a real estate professional and all names in the piece (such as a client, fellow realtor or managing broker) must be changed to protect anonymity. Stories that become finalists will be published in 'All In a Day's Work for Realtors' and become the property of Work Like A Dog Books.

Published contributors will each receive two complimentary copies of the book, a byline with the story, an announcement to local and trade media and a certif"

Click here for more information.

6:50 PM 0 comments

Can plunging necklines and tight skirts hamper a career?

You bet they can, management experts say. "Dress influences the image that people create about you and how they fill in the blanks," said David A. Thomas, the H. Naylor Fitzhugh professor of business administration at Harvard Business School.

Desiree Goodwin, 40, of Arlington, is at the center of a federal court lawsuit that focuses on workplace attire and alleged bias. Brought by Goodwin, an assistant librarian at a Harvard University library, the suit claims a supervisor implied that the reason Goodwin was turned down for promotion 16 times was because of her attire and physical attractiveness.

READ: BostonWorks - Jobs, Events, and Information from The Boston Globe

6:34 PM 0 comments

"Do what you love and the money will follow" is great in theory, but the truth of the matter is, certain jobs and fields simply pay more. The Bureau of Labor Statistics National Compensation Survey, published in August 2004, showed that white-collar earnings -- which averaged $21.85 per hour -- were the highest among occupational groups. Blue-collar pay averaged $15.03 per hour, while the hourly pay of service occupations averaged just $10.40.Though many of these occupations require an advanced degree, there are jobs at every education level that pay more than other jobs for workers with similar levels of schooling. Here, courtesy of the Employment Policy Foundation, is a look at the best-paying occupations at varying education levels:Top Paying Jobs OverallThe jobs that pay the most require at least a four-year college degree.

According to the Employment Policy Foundation, the nation's 12 top-paying jobs -- and the mean annual income reported in 2003 (the most recent year data was available) for each -- were:

Top Paying Jobs Overall

Physicians and surgeons $147,000

Aircraft pilots $133,500

Chief executives $116,000

Electrical and electronic engineers $112,000

Lawyers and judges $99,800

Dentists $90,000

Click here for rest of the Top Paying Jobs Overall, Top Paying Jobs That Do Not Require a High School Degree and Top Paying Jobs for a Two-Year College Degree.

7:38 AM 0 comments

For a few days, one of the patients was a 9-year-old boy who was hit by a car while riding his bike without a helmet. He had a 10 inch scar down the side of his head that I'll always remember. Remarkably, he was in good spirits, and will likely recover nicely.

His father and mother were there in the room with him most of the time. Just after they moved in, I heard the boy's father on the phone with his company. He was asking his boss for two things: 1) for two weeks vacation to help take care of his son; and 2) access to his retirement account (401k) funds to help with medical bills. His company flatly denied both requests. Because he was two weeks shy of being there a full year, he was told he had no accrued vacation. They told him if he took any time off, he'd be fired. Additionally, he was told the only way he could access his retirement account was if he left the company.

Contrast that to my situation.

READ: John Porcaro: mktg@msft: Work Relationships Matter

11:27 PM 0 comments

READ: Companies & Industry

4:36 PM 0 comments

READ: Like Something Out of a Cartoon...

2:41 PM 0 comments

1. A letdown.

What goes up must come down. If you had a great time, returning to the normal routine is hard. Perhaps you saw loved ones who live far away, or went to a beautiful resort where you were waited on hand and foot, or you left one of the worst winters in Massachusetts for an island in the Caribbean. It's "back to reality" and it's a jolt.

REMEDY: Expect it. Ride it out. It will pass. You can't live in the highs and lows all the time.

2. Fatigue.

Typically you work harder before you leave to clear off your desk. Then when you return, it's piled high again, and you over-compensate by working very hard the day you return. There can also be jet-lag.

REMEDY: Don't try and do a week's work your first day back. Plan on getting a good night's sleep that night. Give yourself a break. If, in thinking it over, you planned too hectic a vacation,plan it differently next time!

3. Rejuvenation.

You'll have a new perspective on your life. Getting away does that for us. That's one benefit you can count on.

REMEDY: You just got one! Enjoy it!

4. Better health.

Even though you may experience fatigue and let-down, your inner wisdom, your body, knows it had relief and you'll benefit from this. This is especially important if you tend to get on adrenalin-highs where you can't relax. Hopefully your vacation achieved this, and it gives your over-worked immune system some relief.

REMEDY: Count this in when you assess the stress before and after the vacation, especially if there were travel woes. You may have that "Two minutes back here and I'm a mess" feeling, but if you were able to truly relax during your vacation, you've done your body a lot of good, at the elemental level.

5. Fantasies

Some of us, when we leave on vacation, are afraid they'll find out they can do without us, and we'll lose our job. Others, when we leave on vacation, are sure we're indispensable, they'll not be able to function without us, and think we'll get a standing ovation when we return.

REMEDY: It's likely the truth is neither of the above.

6. Having to work your way back in again.

We're all a bit xenophobic, eg, afraid of strangers. When you leave, you leave the fold and they go on without you. Then when you return you're just a tiny bit "the stranger" again.

REMEDY: You'll need to hang out in the coffee room to catch up on the news, visit around and chat, find out what went on while you were out, and let them get used to you again (and vice versa).

7. Wanting to get it back

You may find yourself wanting to eat out at a fancy restaurant "just once more," or to wear those comfortable sandals to work, or have trouble concentrating as you daydream about the great Broadway shows you saw in New York.

REMEDY: Snap out of it. Negotiating beginnings and endings is an important lifeskill.

8. Wanting to "Show and Tell."

You'll want to tell everyone about the wonders of your trip and show all your pictures.

REMEDY: Find the right person, place and time. Use a little sensitivity. If they're busy at work, that's not the time! If you and your new lover just went on a $7000 river cruise up the Volga and your colleague just filed bankruptcy and is going through a divorce ... well, what does your EQ tell you to do?

9. Focusing on what went wrong.

Just like in the newspaper, bad news makes a better story. You may find yourself telling everyone about your canceled plane flight, your lost luggage, your car-sick kid, or the big fight you had with your impossible sister, with who you plan never to travel again.

REMEDY: War stories effect everyone negatively in terms of physiological stress. When we tell them, we relive the adrenalin rush, and the same thing happens to our listeners. Why bring this back with you, and back to the folks at home? Why not focus on all the good things!

10. Processing

Your mind will be full of what went well and what didn't.

REMEDY: Do think it through and put the information to use. You may have discovered that you and your partner need a more active vacation, or that you'd feel more rested if you'd been lying in the sun somwehere instead of skiing (or vice versa), or that 10 days with your in-laws is too much of a good thing, or that finding a Snooze-You-Lose cruise on the Internet is a superb and economical solution. Make some notes, mental or on paper, to use in the future. Use your Intentionality, an EQ competency. Consider the PURPOSE of your vacation, and what fulfills that. We each have our own answer.

©Susan Dunn, MA, EQ and Life Coach, http://www.susandunn.cc . Coaching, Internet courses, and ebooks around emotional intelligence for your personal and professional success. Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for FREE EQ ezine. Susan trains and certifies EQ coaches. Email her for information about this fast, affordable, comprehensive, no-residency program.

10:10 AM 0 comments

Two years ago, I wrote an article entitled Recruiting Redefined: The New Recruiting Models. In it, I highlighted several early adopter companies that were starting to redefine how their staffing model operated. The key learning in all of this was that a few progressive companies were realigning their teams, processes, and, in some cases, technologies to focus on passive and less active talent, in recognition of the unique talents and skill sets of individual recruiters.

These companies were dedicating resources towards more proactive recruiting and sourcing — a variation of the hunter/farmer sales model. Hunters would become great at finding, building, and cultivating talent pools, an approach that has given us top guns like Shally Stackerl, Russ Moon, Jim Stroud, and Eric Jaquith. Farmers would lead the selection process and manage customer expectations. The main difference in this model from past models was that hunters (a.k.a. sourcers) — who in the past had been limited to entry-level Internet researchers — were elevated to a level at, or in many cases above, the farmers.

READ: Lessons from Sourcing Leaders

9:58 AM 0 comments

How do you know if your resume was received by the intended party? Did you get a "read receipt" notice? (Available in Outlook) Or (as in most cases), did you simply assume it got there? Well, in some cases it never did. Why? Spam filters thought your resume was junk mail. Here is a clip of a marketing article that discusses how to safeguard your email from being considered spam.

###

Here are seven innocuous words (or phrases) you can't "say" in an email without risk of alerting the spam filter police.

enlarge
win
long distance
free
big bucks
click here
spam

And, for good measure, here are a few others: billion dollars, breakthrough, bulk, call now and closeout.

VERY GOOD ARTICLE: The Seven Things (And More) You Can't Say In Email.

On a personal note, I would also add that you be careful when mentioning your "Magna Cum Laude degree. (wink)

6:35 PM 0 comments

According to a survey of more than 1,000 US adults by the Families and Work Institute in New York, the parents of teenagers tend to feel more burdened and overworked than the parents of younger children. Released last week, the findings add a new wrinkle to the available research on work hours and stress.

"We found out, for the first time, that parents of teens are more likely to be overworked than the working parents of younger children," said Erin Brownfield, a spokeswoman at the institute. "In fact, parents, in general, are not any more overworked than others. That was a big surprise." The study also reinforced the idea that people who enjoy the work they do and know their contributions are valued are less likely to feel overburdened by work, even when they're doing more.

"Low-value work is perceived as a waste of time and that makes people feel even more overworked," said Brownfield. "Multitasking can also make people feel overworked. When they have too many tasks that must be done at the same time, they feel as if they are working too hard and too much."

The report also further confirmed what overburdened workers have been suffering through for years: that too much work and too little play can cause depression, poor health, and higher stress levels.

READ: Too many tasks, too little play, can cause depression, poor health

1:49 PM 0 comments

Many people find it difficult to create new relationships, be it business, social, or personal. Careers have been successful or floundered based on the networking success of the individual. What could be more important than learning the skills that will help you achieve the success you desire?

Networking can be the catalyst for your success beginning today. The Heart of Networking is written for the senior executive, college student, not for profit executive and everyone in between. The principles apply to any walk of life and have been used by MBA students to senior partners in both the legal and accounting industries.

In practical, straightforward, real-world language, The Heart of Networking reveals secrets of building your business network. Steele’s little book is backed with solid real life experiences from his 30+ years of building a large community of relationships. In nine candid and concise chapters, The Heart of Networking presents life-long lessons learned in the boot camp of day-to-day living. Steele concludes the book revealing his philosophy of networking that is also a plan for life: Win Friends, Not Arguments.

If you are unable to attend the event, you can buy Steele’s book at his web site www.rickysteele.net.

10:18 AM 0 comments

Now that the drive for more prison pork - and the draconian laws designed to fill them up -- have spurred an overincarceration crisis, state Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, wants to outsource those jobs to Mexico...

READ:Grits for Breakfast: Prison jobs outsourced to Mexico?

4:29 PM 0 comments

Yahoo is testing the service with a small group of employees, some of whom have been working on the project since last year when the product was operating under the code name "Mingle."

SOURCE:USATODAY.com - Yahoo tests blend of blogging, networking

Can I take credit for "other news outlets" as I was among the first to blog about Yahoo's blogs? Ummm... I think I will.

Yippee!!! and (ahem) Yahhhooooo!!" I've been ranked in obscurity! Mom must be proud.

Seriously, whether I can be accredited this leak or not is unimportant. What is? The fact (or the possibility) that one guy in the growing infinite mass of the blogosphere can affect major decisions in a major company. Jeepers... who woulda' thunk it?

Want my two cents worth of advice? If you have not done so already, start a blog, build a community around your way of thinking and change the world! Or at least, Yahoo.

1:38 PM 0 comments

"If you're in L.A.... and you hear a person with a North Dakota accent taking your order, you'll know what we're up to," McDonald's Chief Executive Jim Skinner told investors during a presentation at the Bear Stearns Retail, Restaurants & Apparel Conference in New York.

Call center professionals with "very strong communication skills" could help boost order accuracy and ultimately speed up the time it takes customers to get in and out of the drive-thrus, the company said.

READ: McDonald's says it may outsource drive-thrus

7:27 AM 0 comments

Discover: The Job Shadow Program

7:12 AM 0 comments

Check out my interviews with David Parmet of Indeed.com, a website that will allow you to search HUNDREDS of jobsites at once. However, that is only the beginning of what it can do. Listen to the interview and then checkout Indeed for yourself. (3:09)

David Parmet - Part 2

3:45 PM 0 comments

Call it sick, call it crazy, but this stunt is generating some serious cash!!! Are you desparate enough (or rather, been unemployed long enough) to try something like this? Savetoby.com | Only YOU have the power to Save Toby!

3:39 PM 0 comments

Check out my interviews with David Parmet of Indeed.com, a website that will allow you to search HUNDREDS of jobsites at once. However, that is only the beginning of what it can do. Listen to the interview and then checkout Indeed for yourself. (3:31)

David Parmet - Part 1

9:46 AM 0 comments

# "I worked for a podiatrist who would eat half a Tic-Tac, put the other half in his pocket, and save it for later. Just thought it was really weird." - Army

# "I once worked for a Major who would give me assignments, but not tell me about them. Apparently, he thought I should be able to read his mind, or that I should have been a bit psychic. He said it was sink or swim." - USMC

# "A territory manager thought she was a fashion queen. She would have the first line managers tell the employees what they can and can not wear. She brought her DC style of dress to a rural state. She even flew to NY to get her hair cut and wouldn't even listen to the union or other managers about her dress. Said she didn't want to hear what 'hicks' had to say about her dress. One day she came out of the ladies room with tail of toilet paper about six feet behind her and no one let her know (they were to afraid to.) She shortly thereafter put in her paper work to retire, and has since left the gov't. Hope she isn't working in the NY garment district." - IRS

Click here to read the full article on "Bosses who bark..."

9:34 AM 0 comments

We go see movies to be entertained and get a temporary break from reality. Sometimes, though, the characters and situations on screen seem eerily familiar. Maybe this is because we feel Oscar-worthy ourselves sometimes. According to a recent CareerBuilder.com survey, 26 percent of workers feel like they are "acting" at work. No wonder "Office Space" and "Weekend at Bernie's" became cult classics.

Office Drama

Sometimes the 9-to-5 grind can seem pretty dramatic. A CareerBuilder.com study of 1,333 workers found that almost 36 percent say if their workplace were a movie, it would be a drama – full of ups, downs and intricate storylines.

Interestingly, women find their workplaces more dramatic than men do – 43 percent of women characterized their jobs this way, compared with just 28 percent of men!

Some workers are able to find the lighter side of the workday. Twenty-seven percent of workers say their office's movie would be a comedy, and 19 percent categorized theirs as a heart-pumping action/adventure flick. A less fortunate 7 percent say their job is like a horror movie, and about 6 percent called theirs a mystery. (The case of the missing stapler, perhaps?)

Bosses

Every star needs a supporting actor – in this case, your boss. Of all the movie bosses out there, these 10 reminded workers most of their own head honchos...

Check out: Which Movie Boss Do You Have to see which one matches yours.

1:25 AM 0 comments

In what might have appeared at the time as an ironic casting move, Eppolito played mafia bad guy "Fat Andy" in the violent 1990 New York gangster epic, which starred Robert de Niro, Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta.

After retiring from the city police department in 1990, Eppolito played characters who were bad cops, killers and mafia men. He also wrote "Mafia Cop" an autobiography subtitled "The Story of an Honest Cop Whose Family Was the Mob."

"Although his father was a Mafia hitman," says the book's summary, "Lou Eppolito chose to live by a different code; he chose the uniform of the NYPD (New York Police Department) -- and became one of its most decorated cops."

According to the indictment announced by New York prosecutors Thursday, in fact the "Fat Andy" character from the movies was closer to the truth. Eppolito and fellow former policemen Stephen Caracappa are accused have having spent years on the payroll of the Lucchese family, one of New York's big five mafia clans, and of taking part in eight mob assassinations.

The two were arrested at an Italian restaurant in Las Vegas, where they had retired -- Eppolito to pursue movie acting and Caracappa to run a private investigation business. Both are charged with murder, obstruction of justice, narcotics trafficking and money laundering.

READ: Policeman, mafia hit-man, author and actor in his spare time

8:07 AM 0 comments

Problems on the job raise blood pressure in workers over 60, although they claim to be less upset or sad than younger employees when work problems hit. "They say they feel less emotion, but their bodies tell a different story," says University of Utah psychologist Timothy Smith. He and co-author Bert Uchino reported on their study of 384 adults ages 40 to 70 at the American Psychosomatic Society meeting here last week.

Participants wore monitors that took blood pressure readings every 45 minutes during one day; they also recorded their moods and told whether they were dealing with a problem every time the blood pressure was checked. Diastolic (lower number) blood pressure jumped about 5 points during stressful times at work, but only in those who were 60 to 70 years old. The older the person, the higher his blood pressure was under stress.

READ: Stressful jobs can put aging boomers' health at risk

7:45 AM 0 comments

HR Connections & Consulting, LLC (http://www.hrconnections.net/) is working on several positions that require additional candidates. If you are qualified and interested, please email a resume to TomDarrow@hrconnections.net. Specify the position or positions of interest in the subject line. No calls or agencies please.

1. CAMPUS RECRUITER - Healthcare provider is seeking campus recruiter for a 3 month contract that could go full time. Experience recruiting on campus for nurses and other healthcare service providers is required.

2. HR MANAGER opening in downtown at a technology company. Top HR generalist role. Pay in the $80-$90k range.

3. TECHNICAL JUNIOR CONTRACT RECRUITER - Consulting firm in the Perimeter area is looking for junior, technical recruiter for 3-6+ month contract that could go full time. Contract will pay $15-$18 an hour.

4. HR ASSISTANT - Search firm in the Northside Drive/Powers Ferry area is looking for an HR assistant to help with front end hiring and generalist HR duties. Contract to full time opportunity that will pay in the upper $20Ks plus bonus if it leads to full time.

5. CONTRACT RECRUITER – Green Bay, WI Seeking a contract recruiter for a large healthcare organization in Green Bay, Wisconsin for 2-4 months. Contract will pay $20-$25 an hour. Recruiter from another location could temporarily relocate for this assignment.

7:31 AM 0 comments

Fortunately, being buried alive under electronic missives forced me to develop coping strategies. Let me share some of the nonobvious ones with you. Together, maybe we can start a revolution.

The problem is that readers now bear the burden Before e-mail, senders shouldered the burden of mail. Writing, stamping, and mailing a letter was a lot of work. Plus, each new addressee meant more postage, so we thought hard about whom to send things to. (Is it worth spending thirty-two cents for Loren to read this letter? Nah….)

E-mail bludgeoned that system in no time. With free sending to an infinite number of people now a reality, every little thought and impulse becomes instant communication. Our most pathetic meanderings become deep thoughts that we happily blast to six dozen colleagues who surely can't wait. On the receiving end, we collect these gems of wisdom from the dozens around us. The result: Inbox overload.

("But my incoming e-mail is important," you cry. Don't fool yourself. Time how long you spend at your inbox. Multiply by your per-minute wage(*) to find out just how much money you spend on e-mail. If you can justify that expense, far out—you're one of the lucky ones. But for many, incoming e-mail is a money suck. Bonus challenge: do this calculation companywide.)

(*) Divide your yearly salary by 120,000 to get your per-minute wage.

Taming e-mail means training the senders to put the burden of quality back on themselves.

READ:Tips for Mastering E-mail Overload

10:55 AM 0 comments

Adult film company New Frontier Media has something new for cell phones: ring moans. Wireless content company Brickhouse Mobile on Tuesday said that under an agreement with New Frontier it would begin offering ring tones for mobile phone users featuring porn stars making groaning and moaning noises from the suggestive to the positively tantalizing. READ: Umm... yeah

10:48 AM 0 comments

In this office of haves and have-nots, at least I had my first in a series of office wives, Amy (whose name I changed, like everyone else’s in this piece). For the record, let’s stipulate that the other women in a man’s life are great. His wife is great, his girlfriend is great, and—if he has one of each—well, they’re both great. They’re everything he ever wanted, more than he ever hoped for, blah, blah, blah. But if he’s going to spend all day and half the night at the office—his prime postcoffee awake-and-alive hours, the ones in which he can think and speak and do—what he needs is a confidante, a fellow corporate soldier to share the smirks, the laughs, the deep, plaintive groans of incredulity, and the rare moments of self-awareness.

Is the boss that clueless, that inept, that shallow or backward-thinking or dim or derelict? Has no one else noticed? But wait, someone else has noticed and—even better—has noticed you noticing. Out of nowhere, there she is: the work wife, the other woman your wife might just let you keep. It should go without saying that it helps considerably when the work wife is nonthreatening in age, looks, or ass size. Karen Hughes or Mary Beth Cahill will never be mistaken for Fawn Hall or Monica Lewinsky. Even fit, trim, single Condoleezza Rice comes off like Marcie to George W.’s Peppermint Patty. (Evidently, instead of “sir,” she refers to him as “my hus—,” as she did last spring in a room full of reporters.)

READ: Do You Have an Office Wife?

12:16 PM 0 comments

*sniff-sniff*

I like to thank God and my parents for making me possible...

Here is a clip:

"It's slowly becoming the norm. A vibrant dialog about recruiting, job hunting and other HR questions is quickly taking shape. The following list includes the best 20 or so new blogs (in no particular order)"

READ: The Electronic Recruiting News - Daily News For Recruiting Professionals

3:37 PM 0 comments

Turn your life into short narrative tales of achievement -- and no one will dream of filing that job application in the trash

Sometimes, I think I missed my calling -- that I should have been a man born in the Middle Ages. True, the medical care was abysmal and life was a lot shorter, but I would have liked to have been a troubadour, traveling and telling stories. Singing, networking, and gossiping, with free room and board in every town -- what's not to like?

Modern civilization desperately needs stories. You can see it in the way we gather around the TV to watch the most inane tale. Everyone at the watercooler has to know about the kid whose tree house was condemned by the zoning board.

COMPELLING SELL.

We can all tell stories reasonably well -- even spouses who recount the same ones over and over. We don't generally think of storytelling as a workplace activity. But it is. And it's essential. Often, the most successful salespeople are those who can tell a compelling story that resonates with the customer. In internal selling -- pitching an idea or a budget, for instance -- telling a story is likewise critical. A brilliant friend of mine came up with a thank-you present for the sponsors at her organization's industry trade show. She sent each a color photo of its booth signage with happy attendees milling around, plus a page of testimonials her staff had gathered: "I'd never heard of XYZ Industries before but, after visiting its booth, I'm curious to know more!"

REAL-LIFE DRAMA.

The testimonial page for each sponsor also included an anecdote or two -- people asking about the origin of the company's name or commenting that they'd heard it was a great place to work. The obligatory pile of business cards gathered at a show is good, but it doesn't tell a story. My friend's package did. The human need for stories should be a vital clue to job-hunters, whose résumés often have as much dramatic punch as the back of a cereal box. Your résumé is your marketing brochure, folks.It has to tell your story.

What is your story? Some possibilities might be:

• A scientifically inclined student attends Hofstra University, goes on to learn computer programming and create innovative products, then switches to product marketing and leads a groundbreaking campaign.
• A high school track star shows an aptitude for math at Texas A&M, becomes a successful journeyman consultant for Deloitte, realizes he'd rather be working in artificial intelligence, joins two AI startups (one that tanked, one that didn't), and is up for his next opportunity.
• A homecoming queen from Little Rock excels at Dartmouth College, becomes a waitress/ski bum in Aspen, takes her master's in journalism in Colorado, and plays competitive rugby. Her résumé is short, but don't you want to know more?

READ: Multi-Story Résumé, Higher Profile

7:46 AM 0 comments

Job-hunting is difficult to do when you are deaf. I know because it took me at least eight months to find a job - in a booming economy. I applied for many jobs via the web and posted my resume on my personal web site. I tried networking within the deaf and hearing worlds. I got one interview, which I had without an interpreter. I didn't get the job. The only other interviews I had were for deaf-related jobs (came close to getting one of those).

Early on, I was advised by friends to go to my department of Vocational Rehabilitation for help. I mistakenly ignored that advice, thinking that that VR was meant for helping only those with little skill, the severely disabled, or the inexperienced with finding a job.

Besides, I had my pride -- going to VR for help would have meant in effect saying, "I'm handicapped and I need help." With my solid educational background and fairly extensive work experience, I thought I would be able to find a job on my own. Job Hunting - Use an Interpreter

7:29 AM 0 comments

For the first time, Saudi Arabian women will be given jobs in their country's prestigious Foreign Ministry.

Speaking at a Saudi-British conference in London last week, Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal revealed plans to hire 36 women as part of the country's political reforms, reported the Saudi Arab News daily. The minister said some women would be appointed to key posts.

A cabinet decision last year instructed all government departments to open separate sections for women. The decision marks one of the first steps it has taken towards equal rights and opportunities for women.

The announcement came just before the release this week of the US State Department's annual report on human rights worldwide, which criticized Saudi Arabia, particularly over its discrimination against women and despite the kingdom's sensitivity to such complaints.

READ: Saudi foreign ministry offers women jobs for the first time

7:14 AM 0 comments

Quote...

Are you afraid?

Ms. Evans notes that men often ask for what they want, while many women only hint at it. Ms. Evans suggests that it's always best to ask directly, rather than relying on others to sort out what you really mean. Too scared? Then ask what's the worst that can happen from speaking out.

Do you ask for favors from the people you work with?

I've found that the majority of men don't have a problem asking for a favor from a co-worker (however, asking for directions when driving is a different thing entirely). But most women tend to help others but seldom ask for anything in return. You're part of a community, it's important for you to give help AND to ask for it.

READ: Strategies for Women To Get Ahead at Work

1:54 AM 0 comments

If you are interviewing (or about to), read "How to Interview Potential Employers" by Lisa Haneberg. Check out her sage advice...

So, what questions should you ask? Here are a few examples. Each job and situation might call for different questions:

1. Always ask the hiring manager: What do you like best/least about your job? What are your career aspirations? How do you tend to manage people? What are your hot buttons? What stresses you out? Do you have fun at work? Of which accomplishment are you most proud? What is turnover like in the department? Why do people leave the department? Describe the work culture. What type of person is most likely to succeed/fail? How many people have you promoted? How did you get into management? What do you like most about managing people? (not all at once, mind you, sprinkle the questions into the conversation, or perhaps over several conversations)

2. Ask people OTHER THAN the hiring manager: What’s it like to work for the _____(the hiring manager)? Does he or she enjoy his or her work? Describe what it is like to work in the department. What do you like most/least about working here? Why have people left the company? What type of person is most likely to succeed/fail in this department? Do you have fun at work?

Hurry up and click: How to Interview Potential Employers

10:00 AM 1 comments