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Top Economist Puts Philosophy Degree to Work
Tweet Share on Facebook September 16, 2008 CommentLast month, I reported on a handful of unusual majors and the interesting jobs they might precede. While philosophy isn't technically a weird major, it's often a head-scratcher as to which careers might naturally follow.
When I heard that Alan Levenson, chief economist at T. Rowe Price, was a philosophy major, I asked him how his degree had prepared him for the wild world of economics. He had this to say about it:
Studying philosophy helped me to develop the ability to grapple with difficult texts and lines of reasoning, which have an analogy in economic research, where one is trying to discover how an economy works. I also think that it contributed to the development of what writing skills I have now.
You can find some of his insight into the most recent jobs report here.
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How Your 'Power Drain' Ruins Your Work
Tweet Share on Facebook September 15, 2008 CommentIs your Blackberry taking over your Sunday afternoons? I recently chatted with Henry Cloud, a clinical psychologist and author of The One-Life Solution, about establishing boundaries at work (he's coauthor of the book Boundaries ) and finding a successful balance in our personal and professional lives. Here is an excerpt of our conversation:
What are some of the practices that support a successful work-life balance?
The simple answer that never works is time management. Every now and then I get a call from a company that asks: "Can you do something on time management?" And I say, "Well, haven't you done that before?" They go, "Yeah." And I go, "Well, isn't it the same people who are out of control now who were out of control before they got the little notebook?" -
Learn From Lehman
Tweet Share on Facebook September 15, 2008 CommentLehman Brothers has 25,000 employees watching their 158-year-old company fizzle out into the larger market and into the bankruptcy courts. Some of those employees "started polishing résumés in earnest, taking calls from headhunters and openly passing around job offers" last week, the New York Times reports.
Pamela Slim, champion of entrepreneurialism and blogger at Escape From Cubicle Nation, writes about corporate employees today:
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Palin's Museum Head Speaks Out
Tweet Share on Facebook September 12, 2008 Comment (13)Earlier this week, I posted some lines from an 11-year-old story about Sarah Palin's budget cuts as mayor of Wasilla and the trio of longtime museum employees who quit rather than slash their budget. (I was largely interested in the bold initiative and willingness to shake up the establishment shown by someone as young as Palin.)
A woman named Geri McCann left a lengthy comment about Palin's leadership. An excerpt:
For the record SARAH PALIN does appreciate and support historic preservation, culture and the arts, but with fiscal responsibility.
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Michelle Rhee for VP?
Tweet Share on Facebook September 10, 2008 Comment (6)After an earlier look at the no-nonsense, budget-cutting ways of Sarah Palin, Michelle Rhee seems an appropriate follow. Here in Washington, few local personalities are as hotly followed as Rhee, chancellor of the city's public school system. She's young—33—but not afraid to shake up the establishment.
From a recent story at CNN.com:
Rhee closed 23 schools in her first year as the head of the District of Columbia's public schools, fired 36 principals and cut 15 percent—about 121 jobs—from the central office staff. And she's making no apologies.
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Sarah Palin and the Gray-Haired Museum Ladies
Tweet Share on Facebook September 8, 2008 Comment (15)Sarah Palin would likely be a tough boss—her sense of authority seems to have been rarely obscured by her relative youthfulness. Gen Y managers take note: Palin's fiscal conservatism took no prisoners back in Wasilla, Alaska, where even the three "gray-haired matrons" of the city's museum found their longevity no match for her budget cuts.
From the Aug. 6, 1997 edition of the Anchorage Daily News:
Opal Toomey, Esther West and Ann Meyers don't seem like politically active types. There are no bumper stickers on their cars, no pins on their lapels.
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Unemployment Rate Is Political, but Not Necessarily Recessionary
Tweet Share on Facebook September 5, 2008 Comment (4)The percentage of Americans who are out of work and looking for jobs hit a much higher than expected 6.1 percent in August, up 0.4 percentage points from July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
This is nearly a five-year high—the last time unemployment was at 6.1 percent was September 2003. Then, a couple of years into an economic recovery, a New York Times editorial began: "Unemployment in America is high, and elections are on the horizon."
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How Do You Balance Weddings and Work?
Tweet Share on Facebook September 5, 2008 Comment (2)My colleague personal finance whiz Kimberly Palmer wrote recently about the financial burden of being a bridesmaid.
A wedding can also pose a complication on the job. Suppose you're a bridesmaid who is asked to travel for a wedding and you have no vacation days. Or suppose the rehearsal is on Thursday afternoon and the wedding is Friday evening and you're up against a tight deadline at work.
I'm curious to know how others have handled weddings and work in their lives. Has anyone refused to be a bridesmaid for a career-related reason?
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Why Saving Money Will Help Your Career
Tweet Share on Facebook September 4, 2008 CommentMore proof that we live lives that are too expensive: 21 percent of people with salaries of $100,000 or more report living paycheck to paycheck. The figure comes from a CareerBuilder survey published today. The survey shows 47 percent of all workers surveyed said they always or usually live paycheck to paycheck. One third of workers do not put any money into a 401(k), an IRA, or a retirement plan, and a quarter of workers don't save anything.
This is a problem for several reasons, but since I cover careers, I'm going to focus on the job problem.
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Staff Learns of Layoffs Via E-mail Mistake
Tweet Share on Facebook September 3, 2008 Comment (5)"I unfortunately have some difficult news which affects you and your position with the company." That is the first line employees at media agency Carat will hear if they are laid off this week, according to documents posted on AdAge.com.
All Carat employees got an inside look today at how companies plan for layoffs—both how they prepare to tell employees and inform clients—when an E-mail intended for upper management was sent to the entire staff, AdAge.com reports. The documents offer message points for executives speaking with different groups, including the "critical talent" unaffected by the layoffs. In those points, the company emphasizes the term "right-size," rather than downsize.
