A blog about finding (and keeping) a job in Seattle -- Career Center Blog

Making milk on the clock? Know your rights

February 22, 2012 | Posted by Natalie Singer

After reading recently about the federal judge's ruling against a Houston mother who says she was fired after asking for a place to pump breast milk, I felt momentarily glad for the situation I faced when I went back to work after having each of my two babies. After all, I never got fired for asking to pump milk, the method of nutrition that is now supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics for at least one year and is proven to cut down on childhood illness and therefore reduce parents' work absences. I did pump milk for each baby:

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Career consciousness among the younger generation

February 21, 2012 | Posted by Matt Youngquist

When I was in high school, I don't recall average students (including myself) giving all that much thought to what they wanted to be when they grew up. Sure, there were a few bright kids who seemed hell-bent on becoming doctors, engineers and lawyers. By and large, however, it didn't seem that the students knew much about these fields, per se, or had any real passion around them. Instead, it appeared as if they were focusing on them simply based on the generic perception that if you were good in school, those were the types of careers you targeted. Or

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Getting the right name can get your foot in the door

February 20, 2012 | Posted by Randy Woods

We've all seen various versions of the same statements in most job listings: "Send cover letter and resume to the following e-mail" or "Upload your resume to our jobs page." It all seems like a well-oiled machine, and it is -- resume databases have vastly improved the immense human resources workload that many large companies endure during periods of high unemployment. But for you, the weary job seeker, the nameless, faceless, effortless resume/cover letter upload is perhaps the biggest obstacle you'll ever face in landing a job. It's not that companies don't like you or want you; it's more an

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When not in Rome: Long-distance job search tips

February 16, 2012 | Posted by Randy Woods

A little more than 15 years ago, I moved out of my Washington, D.C., apartment, packed most of my worldly possessions into an overloaded Nissan and drove off like Tom Joad to my new future in Seattle. Fortunately, I had a secured destination in mind -- an insurance magazine job that was waiting for me in 12 days. But at the time I began my journey, I barely knew a soul in this strange Emerald City. In my case, I was quite lucky. I landed a job with just one in-person interview and was given several weeks to prepare for

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'Sharpen Your Heels': Sound, and wobbly, career advice

February 15, 2012 | Posted by Natalie Singer

Normally I bristle at advice tailored to either men or women. So I admit that my reaction upon receiving the newly released lilac-colored book "Sharpen Your Heels: Mrs. Moneypenny's Career Advice for Women" was to roll my eyes and set it aside in favor of The Economist, the newspaper, Facebook, the back of the cereal box -- anything that didn't scream, "Here you go, little (high-heeled) worker lady, information packaged just for you." And then I heard a story. An acquaintance of mine (female) is a general manager overseeing the mobile-advertising division of a media company, one of more than

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