Can they ask that? Illegal interview topics.

Companies Expect to Invest More in Social Media; Facebook Tops the List

It looks like many companies are valuing the power of social media.  As a result, they are willing to spend more money to increase their online presence.

We all want to be liked, but a majority of businesses may be willing to pay more for the distinction, a new survey by The Creative Group suggests. More than half (53 percent) of advertising and marketing executives interviewed said they expect companies to increase their investment in Facebook this year. Respondents also anticipate more marketing dollars will be channeled toward Twitter (43 percent), Google+ (41 percent), LinkedIn (38 percent) and YouTube (36 percent). Continue Reading

New College Graduate Hiring Up 10.2% from 2011

There is good news in the job market for the graduating class of 2012.  Employers are expected to hire more recent college graduates this year than in 2011.

Employers expect to hire 10.2 percent more new college graduates from the college Class of 2012 than they did from the Class of 2011, according to a new study conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). Continue Reading

12 Intangibles to Consider Before Accepting a Job Offer

Need More Nursing Knowledge? Go Back to School

If you are a nurse who wants to continue with your education and potentially create more opportunities for yourself, then going back to school is a good idea.

Pop quizzes, heavy books and all-nighters – for nurses who want to return to school and get advanced degrees, the glories of the old college days have been replaced by a new online adult learning model. In fact, for nurses who are thinking of going back to school, earning a degree today is much less intimidating and a lot more flexible than most think. Continue Reading

Job Search Mistakes that May Prove Costly

The outcome of your job search depends on your effort. If you’re a serious job seeker, you understand your search is an investment and want to see results. However, those results can be put on hold if you are making costly mistakes along the way. Be sure to avoid these mistakes in your job search: Continue Reading

Project Management No-Nos That Apply To Your Job, Too

Cathy Eng, Certified Advanced Resume Writer

Though I’m not a project manager, I often pick up issues of PM Network to see what kind of career advice it has. I often find that the career advice it gives is widely transferable to many fields beyond project management. The February 2012 issue of PM Network boasts an article titled “10 Mistakes That Could Get You Fired,” which I found to be both enlightening and applicable to almost all industries.

So many professionals are guilty of these missteps that it bears spreading the good information that the article provides. I picked out five of the 10 mistakes featured in the article (some were indeed more focused project management) that could apply to any professional. Here is a summary of those mistakes outlined and how they may apply to you: Continue Reading

Non-Profit Workers Pay Increases 8.4% From 2011

Workers at not-for-profit organizations are generally feeling a little wealthier this year as compared to a year ago. They’ve seen their base pay increase by an overall average of 8.4 percent compared to 2011 according to a new study published by Total Compensation Solutions (TCS).

“This increase is significantly higher that we have seen over that last two study cycles 2008 to 2009 and 2009 to 2010,” says study project manager Tom Bailey. “The increases for the previous two study cycles reflected the severity of the economic recession with marginal increases of 2.4 and 1.5 percent respectively.” Continue Reading

Smarter than the Average Bear

“Imagine what you could achieve if you knew you could not fail” – Robert H. Schuller

When I was in my early teens, my friends and I would buy whatever fireworks we could. They were illegal where we lived, but if you “knew the right people” you could pretty much get what ever you wanted. Although not technically “fireworks”, one of our favorites were smoke bombs. They looked like small balls with a fuse sticking out of them. Anyway, we would always argue how much smoke they created and decided to settle our argument by “capturing” the smoke. So, we decided to light a smoke bomb, drop it into a jar and close the lid. About 1 second after closing the lid we realized that this was not a very good idea and the jar could explode. We ran for cover. Fortunately, only the lid blew off. We didn’t settle our argument but we did agree it was not the smartest thing we did.

My entire career (which now spans over 30 years), no matter what struggles the companies I worked for went though, I always thought that “someone smarter than me” was dealing with it. Having lived through my share of corporate “drop a smoke bomb in a jar” meltdowns, I now realize that maybe the person running the company is not smarter than me. In fact, some of the fatal corporate mistakes I’ve lived through could have been easily avoided if not for arrogance or over-confidence. So, what’s the point? Underestimating your abilities or thinking that only someone “smarter than me” could be running the company can be career limiting. Much like today’s quote, don’t let lack of confidence hold you back. Continue Reading

How to Use Your Spring Break to Find a New Job

Academics, volunteer work, internships and a busy social calendar can compete for college students’ time during the school year, and it can be very challenging to devote ample time to job search. For students with rigorous, high pressure schedules, a semester break often offers a welcome respite. According to Laura M. Labovich, job search makeover coach with Aspire! Empower! Career Strategy Group, “Spring break can also be a valuable time for students to make great strides towards landing a good summer internship or post graduation job in a tight economy.”

So, how can students use spring break to inch closer to future employment? Continue Reading