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5 Tips for Business Travel
Tweet Share on Facebook August 29, 2008 Comment (1)Americans make more than 405 million long-distance business trips a year, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Studies find that most of us actually like business travel—that may be part of the reason teleconferencing never took off.
Some of us, I'll wager, are much better at it than others. As I sit here typing in a hotel room in southern Arizona, I'll certainly agree that I have plenty of room to grow in skill and efficiency. Here are five lessons I've learned in the past couple of days. Truly seasoned travelers may find these no-brainers, in which case, I'd encourage you to offer your own.
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DNC Bloggers Choose Yoga, Not Cheetos
Tweet Share on Facebook August 27, 2008 Comment (8)Have you ever wondered what career bloggers' working lives are really like?
This morning on MSNBC's Morning Joe, cohost Willie Geist quizzed the "Cheetos eaters, " aka the 400 bloggers covering the Democratic National Convention. Geist asked serious questions like "Have you ever, or do you now, eat Cheetos while blogging?"
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Career Prospects After Weird Baby Name Craze
Tweet Share on Facebook August 26, 2008 Comment (7)Earlier this week we talked about whether smoking can hurt your career. Other seemingly irrelevant things could handicap advancement as well, such as your name.
While a bizarre first name rarely says much about the individual who carries it—serving instead to lay the parents out like an open book—will Zuma, Apple, or Kyd have trouble being taken seriously in the working world?
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Income Data: What Women Earned Last Year
Tweet Share on Facebook August 26, 2008 CommentThe U.S. Census Bureau today released some key figures on income, poverty, and health insurance coverage. Let's take a look at the income highlights:
Real median household income increased 1.3 percent, to $50,233, in 2007.
- Real median income (inflation-adjusted) for black and non-Hispanic white households rose in 2007 for the first time since 1999. It was flat for Asian and Hispanic households.
- Real median income rose in the Midwest and the South, declined in the Northeast and was flat in the West.
- Income for foreign-born households with a householder who was not a U.S. citizen dropped by 7.3 percent, to $37,637.
- Women who worked full time, year-round, earned 78 percent of what corresponding men earned. But both men and women saw an increase in real earnings after three years of declines.
- Income inequality decreased in 2007 from 2006. The top fifth of the nation's households saw a decline, while aggregate income grew for the third and fourth quintiles.
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Toyota Refuses to Lay Off Workers
Tweet Share on Facebook August 26, 2008 Comment (17)Toyota refuses to lay off the 4,500 workers idled for three months by halted production of the company's Tundra pickups and Sequoia SUVs at plants in Texas and Indiana.
From Workforce Management:
As the U.S. auto industry sheds workers, and even Nissan offers buyouts, Toyota is sticking by its proud—and expensive—tradition of no layoffs during hard times.
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A New Diet From the Burger King Ad Guys
Tweet Share on Facebook August 25, 2008 Comment (4)We know well the work of Crispin Porter + Bogusky. This is the advertising agency that has given Burger King a makeover. As AdAge.com puts it: These are the guys "who coined 'Meatnormous,' introduced the Quad Stacker, and unveiled the Double Croissanwich filled with 'meat and cheese and cheese and meat.'"
(This is also the agency that's creating spots for Microsoft that will feature Jerry Seinfeld.)
But back to the meat and cheese and double meat—partners Alex Bogusky and Chuck Porter seem an unlikely pair to produce a diet book, to say the least. Selling self-control would seem a strange career move. But here it is: The 9-Inch Diet: Exposing the Big Conspiracy in America. The book is about portion control—eating your meals off a 9-inch plate.
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Audio: You're Playing With Fire When You Negotiate
Tweet Share on Facebook August 25, 2008 Comment (2)I spoke yesterday with Washington, D.C.'s WTOP News about navigating a minefield. Actually, we talked about searching for a "backup job" when you fear you may be laid off. It's not unlike a minefield. You can listen to the interview here.
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Why Web Surfing at Work Is a Nonproblem
Tweet Share on Facebook August 22, 2008 Comment (6)As long as U.S. productivity continues to grow at a solid clip, why do managers feel that it's necessary to moderate their employees' use of the Internet?
Consider the results of a new survey by the Creative Group, a staffing firm: The survey found that a majority—57 percent—of executives at large U.S. companies and advertising agencies think it's OK if employees surf the Web for leisure purposes at work.
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Why Every Job Search is Different
Tweet Share on Facebook August 22, 2008 Comment (1)When it comes to our job search or career efforts, we often feel like there's some secret solution that we haven't discovered. There's an enormous cottage industry dedicated to helping us find better jobs or succeed in the ones we have. But there is no secret solution. There's no one right way to do things.
In reporting my story on searching for a job when you've already got one, I spoke with several careers experts. I figured these issues would be simple and straightforward. I was way off.
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The Best Places to Learn HR Secrets
Tweet Share on Facebook August 22, 2008 Comment (1)Fistful of Talent—a blog where recruiters, consultants, and human resources experts have their say—this week listed its top 25 "Talent/Recruiting/HR/Human Capital Blogs."
Reading these blogs will give you a tremendous edge in understanding management decisions and help increase your career savvy:
