work
Posted 5 weeks 1 day ago by Linsey Knerl
Career and Income, Making Extra Cash, Career Building
You’re scouting around for a decent job. While you realize that great jobs are hard to find, you’re avoiding getting into a position that really stinks. Here are 6 tell-tale characteristics of generally lousy jobs, and why it may be best to cut-and-run.
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Posted 5 weeks 4 days ago by Nora Dunn
Lifestyle, Art and Leisure
Despite cultural differences, language barriers, and economical disparities around the world, I discovered that we all seem to be fighting the same demons and striving for the same goals.
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Posted 9 weeks 3 days ago by Linsey Knerl
Personal Finance, Career and Income, Productivity
A cruise to the Bahamas or a trip to that luxury spa aren’t going to get you ahead financially. However, if you’re looking to sock away a couple hundred bucks or more, some time off from work just might be the way to get you there -- if you do it right.
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Posted 10 weeks 2 days ago by Philip Brewer
Career and Income
I worked at a non-profit--a local nature center--over the summer of 1979. After we wrapped up our main task, those of us who wanted to were allowed stay on for the few weeks before we went back to college, doing things like trimming branches on the hiking trails, repainting the lines in the parking lot, and working around a very old house that was to be turned into an exhibit on settlement-era homesteads. It was work that was worth doing.
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Posted 18 weeks 6 days ago by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Frugal Living, Career and Income, General Tips, Lifestyle, Food and Drink
If you are a cube dweller like me you may be familiar with the usual benefits of a salary and paid days off, but there are many other ways you can benefit from your workplace. I am not talking about stealing pens or embezzling large sums of money. Read on for some of the practical and legal means I think you can use your work to squeeze just a little bit of extra savings for yourself.
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Posted 22 weeks 6 days ago by Philip Brewer
Career and Income
I worked one place that was much, much better than anyplace else I ever worked. The guy who ran it told me that the secret was in how to hire people. Most managers do it the wrong way: they hire people who can do the work. So, what's the right way? Hire people that you want to work with.
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Posted 43 weeks 5 days ago by Philip Brewer
Career and Income, Lifestyle
A lot of happiness (and unhappiness) comes from within. But there are other things that matter a lot: relationships, doing important work, living your life according to your values, having a spiritual aspect to your life.
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Posted 46 weeks 4 days ago by Philip Brewer
Shopping
Businesses, especially big businesses, try constantly to shift work from their paid staff to their customers. It's one of the major trends in business today.
Customers are willing to do the work when it saves them money or saves them time. They're delighted to do the work when it makes it easier for them to get exactly what they want--selecting their own fruit at the grocery store versus having a clerk give them a bag that includes one bruised piece that otherwise wouldn't sell.
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Posted 46 weeks 5 days ago by Sarah Winfrey
Making Extra Cash
My job is crazy one week and snail-slow the next. During the slow times, it's easy to get sucked into the web, clicking from one page to the next, waiting for someone to have a fire that I need to put out (that's what I do--put out those proverbial fires). So I've found some things that are fun to do and that make me feel productive at the same time.
*Warning: Different corporate cultures are different. Some of these may be completely acceptable in one environment and totally unacceptable in another. So use some discretion when trying them out!
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There are two types of employee. One has a good idea of what they do, who they are and what position they play in the company. They are savvy. They know the score. They are under no delusions, and will no doubt leave for another job long before they are ever considered as cannon-fodder.
And then there’s the other kind. The guy who could get Gandhi to hate him. The woman who spends most of her day chatting on the phone to friends or doing online shopping. Or the nice chap in sales who is completely oblivious that the recent merger means his job is now obsolete. They all have Ostrich Syndrome. They couldn’t see a pink slip coming if it was 8ft tall and glowing in the dark, screaming “you’re fired!”
Continue reading "You’re Fired! 20 signs that a pink-slip is coming."
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Yesterday, I had a one-on-one with my boss. The first time I had one of these (and the last, until yesterday), I was, quite frankly, intimidated. Then, I didn't know what to expect and I knew that I was getting my yearly review, so I basically nodded and smiled at everything my boss said. Now, it was almost all positive so it wasn't like I was letting him run me over. But I wasn't proactive in getting what I wanted, either.
Continue reading "What you need to know about getting what you want at work"
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I appreciated Sarah's post today about determining the positive aspects of a work environment. You should read that post before you read this one.
As someone who has had to make the decision to leave more than one lousy job, here's my counterpoint top 10: how to know when to leave. I don't take the decision to quit lightly, and I don't think anyone should. See if the problems can be fixed first.
Some of my advice here involves big ideas (Ask for a raise!) that should not be undertaken lightly. Research tactics first before acting.
Continue reading "10 important signs that your job sucks"
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Even though I have a couple of extra days to file my tax returns this year, I won't be able to come up with enough to pay the IRS what I owe.
The age old question about paying now or later came to a head for me this year, when I chose the "pay later, and invest your money in a high-interest savings account in the meantime" strategy, but forgot to actually save the money. So, I owe Uncle Sam a few grand. Only I don't have a few grand.
Continue reading "Can't Afford to Pay the IRS?"
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I like Sarah's post about fun ways to make money, and I thought I'd add to that list. These are more "turn your hobbies into a job" type posts, and I don't suppose that they are all viable for everyone, but with a little creativity, they can be parlayed into part-time gigs.
Rent-a-goat
Continue reading "5 More Fun Money-Making Ideas!"
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This post technically isn't about me. It's about a friend, a lousy job situation, and soliciting feedback from our readers for a friend of mine.
Tiffany is an engineer who works for a small start-up. She makes a very good salary, has benefits, and doesn't have a particularly heavy workload at the moment (her company is building a product, so the work comes in fits and starts, so she's been chilling for a couple of months while the hardware is being built). Anyway, Tiff is kind of bored right now, but otherwise OK. She's the only female in her office, and works with about 12 men who are much older than she is (she's 27, they're all about 45-57).
Continue reading "Is This Job Worth It?"
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Money, Money, Money
The hardest part of negotiating a work contract is the pay. I despise having to demand a certain amount of money, even though I am well aware that I deserve a certain amount of money. That's why I love working with job recruiters - they set the rates, and they usually do their best to get you the most money, because, let's face it, they're taking quite a bit more off the top of it.
But for freelance work, or if negotiating your own salary, you're on your own. And that is one of the most terrifying things for me.
Continue reading "Earn More Money by Demanding It"
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