Archive: October 2009
Labor's Loss: What roles will unions play in Seattle?
It's now been more than two days since Boeing's momentous announcement that the second 787 line will fly south to North Charleston, S.C., instead of Everett. Last time I looked out the window, the sky had not fallen and lights...
Dressing up for Halloween at the office -- yea or nay?
I've always been fairly ambivalent about office Halloween celebrations. One the plus side, any festivities your department has scheduled (haunted house, costume contest, orange-and-black cake, people bringing in their kids to treat or treat) can provide a nice distraction on...
Approaching the 'unapproachable' for job leads
After sending out countless resumes, squirming through interviews and slowly building up your network, it's tempting for job seekers to fantasize about cutting out the "middleman"--about walking right up to the CEO, offering a firm handshake and talking about how...
Do coworkers, social media, and election politics mix?
I know many of you are swapping your Seattle mayoral picks and your thoughts on I-1033 and Ref. 71 around the office water cooler. But how about on Facebook and Twitter where many of your officemates and customers lurk? When...
How to tell your office you're gravely ill
With today's cost-cutting employers keeping close tabs on worker productivity, no one wants to look like they're operating at less than 200 percent. Of course all this goes out the window if your body throws you a curve ball. Suddenly,...
For us, by us: Home-grown networking events
Each month, a new wave of national job fairs blows through town on their grand tours, many of which have little to do with the Seattle job scene and are of dubious merit to local job hunters. But as October...
HR experts see brighter skies for coming quarter
Of all the fiscal quarters in the year, the fourth has got to be the hardest to predict and analyze. Since the holiday season is such a crucial sales time for most businesses, any spike in hiring or increased sales...
Are you a cellphone refusenik?
I was a cellular holdout for a long time. Like years. And while I maintain a landline and have been known to leave the house without my mobile phone on occasion, I can't imagine returning to the days of worrying...
How to boost your relationship with the boss
Ask anyone who's ever had a bad boss how much time they spend stewing about their supervisor each week and they'll likely answer, "Far more hours than I spend at work." It doesn't have to be this way, says Joe...
Hiring continuing to pick up in IT sector
Lord knows the last thing out-of-work people want to hear right now is anything about "trickle-down" economics, that much-derided Reagan-era theory that financial incentives for the wealthy will eventually funnel down to the rest of society. This idea, however, is...
Use your network to find limited seasonal jobs
For those who were counting on getting some extra income for the holiday shopping blitz, it may be time to come up with a Plan B. According to a new survey released this week by Aon Consulting, 44 percent of...
"Happy Boss Day, you big liar!"
Welcome to another Hallmark holiday, National Boss Day, which falls on October 16 each year. Rather than rushing out to buy their bosses greeting cards, flowers, or bottles of scotch, HR solutions provider Adecco Group suggests that many Americans may...
Seattle ranks high in clean-tech job potential
One of the most frequently cited solutions to the current employment crisis in this country is the alleged rise of the "clean technology," or clean tech, sector. In a perfect world faced with growing energy demands and aging infrastructure, clean...
Career change: Is the new normal not so new?
There's been a lot of talk of the "new normal" this recession has brought on -- workers spending less, saving more, and feeling far less certain they'll be able to retire as early as they'd hoped, if at all. Now the...
Reminder: Back-to-back job fairs this week
If you haven't ironed your best interview clothes, better make some time for that tonight. The fall job search season is kicking into high gear with two back-to-back job fairs this week. In the spirit of October's athletics-heavy calendar, both...
How much money could working from home save you?
A lot, says Kate Lister, co-author with Tom Harnish of Undress for Success: The Naked Truth About Making Money at Home and principal researcher at the Telework Research Network. Aggregating the latest U.S. Census American Community Survey figures and data from...
It's National Work & Family Month. Do you know where your balance is?
The good folks at the Alliance for Work-Life Progress want you to know that October is National Work & Family Month. To help raise awareness for the American worker's need for better balance, Kathie Lingle, executive director of the Alliance, wrote a...
Ski resorts hold job fairs for upcoming season
Gaze at almost any horizon in Seattle this weekend and, with the exception of Mt. Rainier, you will be hard pressed to find a single snowflake on the local mountain ranges. It doesn't exactly get you jazzed about hitting the...
Seattle slowly rising in job market competition index
Sometimes when the daily grind of a job search gets you down, it's comforting to take some of Garrison Keillor's Lutheran advice from "A Prairie Home Companion" and realize that, no matter how many times you've been rejected by a...
Can a spouse's meddling help your career?
During the past week, I've conversed with several hiring managers and recruiters about helicopter spouses who play far too prominent a role in their significant other's job search. I'm not talking about proofreading your husband's resume or introducing your wife...
Tips on tapping the hidden job market
Last week's dispiriting news that the nation's unemployment rate hit 9.8 percent dealt a staggering blow to the theory that the economic recovery we are (allegedly) experiencing will come with new job opportunities. It now appears that this will, indeed,...
Love in the time of corporate cutbacks
I was going to be predictable and write about dating in the workplace sometime around February 14. But since everyone's talking about David Letterman's office dalliances now, why wait? It's no secret that being bed buddies with the boss can...
Tips on conducting a stealthy job search
As most out-of-work job seekers know, the search for employment is a full-time job in itself (with really lousy benefits). But what about those who are currently holding a job but are looking for a new one? I am often...
Recoiling from officespeak when you're off the clock
Yesterday a writer pal working at a neighborhood café posted the following as her Facebook status: "The bizspeak happening at the next table is making my ears bleed." Wondering what catchphrases had set her off, my brain quickly brimmed with sentences like: "Let's leverage this."...
Five steps to take control of your job search
For most job seekers, the routine is numbingly familiar: See an ad, respond to an ad, wait for a response, repeat. It happens every day in every market across the United States. Unfortunately, it's one of the least efficient ways...
Karen Burns is the author of The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl, a career guide based on her 59 jobs over 40 years in 22 cities.
Lisa Quast is a certified career coach, mentor, business consultant, former corporate executive and author based in the Seattle area.
Randy Woods writes about job-search tools, networking techniques and other tips to help you land your dream job.
Former contributors
Matt Youngquist is the president of Career Horizons, a career counseling firm.
Natalie Singer is a Seattle writer, editor and small-business owner.
Michelle Goodman is the author of "My So-Called Freelance Life" and "The Anti 9-to-5 Guide."
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