Oh, St. Patrick’s Day.

Each year you provide us with a day to pretend a lot of things. You let us pretend we’re Irish when we’re not. You let us pretend our livers are impenetrable to alcohol, but they’re not. You let us pretend we look good in tacky green clothing when most of us don’t. In many ways, St. Patrick’s Day, you allow us to revel in more fantasy than anything associated with the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus.

One item associated with St. Patrick’s Day that we should probably embrace is the “luck of the Irish.” Apparently no one can pinpoint the etymology of the phrase, and no one can agree whether or not said luck refers to true good luck or ultimately bad luck. For our sake, let’s go with the first reading, as everyone could use a little good luck these days — especially job seekers!

Wishin’ and hopin’ for good luck doesn’t pay the bills, though, does it? If you’re like most job seekers, you’re not waiting around for luck. Today’s job seekers are working hard, trying to land an interview or find a job posting that suits their skills. The idea that finding a job is its own full-time job rings true, and yet, you can’t help but wonder how long ‘til you receive an offer.

For some job seekers, the path to hearing “You’re hired!” was long but turned out to be the best thing that could’ve happened to them. By their own admittance they feel like luck played a significant role in their lives. To give you a bit of inspiration, we asked them to share their lucky stories with you. You might not believe in luck, but come on, it’s St. Patrick’s Day. Put on some green and get see if you find your own professional four-leaf clover!

Here are some success stories from job seekers who found themselves on the receiving end of some good luck.

Vicky T.’s tale …
Vicky looked for a job for over a year and didn’t have luck landing an interview. When she finally did, she made it to the second and final rounds but wouldn’t receive an offer. Finally, after she’d given up on finding a new job, she received a call asking her to interview. The position was great, but she knew she didn’t have the qualifications for it. Still, she went on the interview on the off chance she’d be the perfect match. She made it to the second round of interviews where she was told she wasn’t the right person for the job because she lacked experience. She said, “OK, well here is why I think I am right for the job.” And she got the job, which she has fallen in love with.

“I am now a probation officer,” Vicky says. “I love my job. I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason. I was meant for this job. It is hard to get to the final selection stage and then get told no. It hurts, especially when you have been on the hunt for a long time. If I have any advice to give anyone, it is to keep on keeping on! If you’re not selected, don’t think there is something wrong with you; you just weren’t meant to have that particular job. The job your were meant to have is still out there.”

Lauren Rotchford says …
“On January 1, 2010, I relocated to Atlanta (from Naples, Fla.) to be with my fiancé and was very concerned about securing a decent job in this economy. Within three weeks, I was offered two jobs on the same day. Needless to say, I was both shocked and thrilled. I spent a lot of time researching jobs online and sent my resume to Atlanta companies while still living in Florida. It was a lot of work, but it certainly paid off. I’ve been working for Rubicon in Atlanta since February 1st. I want to share this with others to let them know that jobs are coming back as more and more companies are hiring again!”

Chelsea Levy’s journey …
Chelsea Levy chronicled her job search for a public relations position on her own blog. She went on 11 interviews, sometimes getting rejected, sometimes being offered a position she didn’t actually want, and other times being rejected initially and then called back for an offer. One day she received an offer from an employer who had turned her down once already. In the end, the position she accepted offered a significantly better salary than one of her other offers.

“To all of you recent college graduates out there, know that it is possible to find a job in this economy in a competitive field such as public relations … I am living proof that if you work hard on a daily basis, researching, networking, applying and interviewing, an opportunity (or several) will arise. In the meantime, keep interning and gaining industry experience. It was one of the most discouraging, emotional and frustrating experiences I’ve been through yet, but in the end I succeeded!”

Anna G.’s ongoing search
Anna G. is a marketing specialist in search of a Silicon Valley position where she can put her good writing to work. Although she’s still looking for the right job, she gave us her own take on luck on our Facebook page:

“Serendipity: Get out of the house and let every person know you are job hunting, what you’re seeking and where. Never know when someone knows someone. Go to non-unemployed support events, too.

“Good Luck Charm: Start a very time consuming, time sensitive project (e.g. fixing and selling the house). Put professional clothes back in the storage unit. Take a long trip with nonrefundable, nonchangeable ticket and don’t check your voicemail or e-mails. During any of these [activities], calls for interviews will pick up … Haven’t landed a job yet but have started to get a lot more calls in past month.”

Admittedly, this St. Patrick’s Day getting a pot of gold would be nice because you could sell it for some serious cash and not have to worry about a paycheck. But that probably won’t happen, so here’s hoping luck pops up in your job search.

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Source: http://www.theworkbuzz.com/fun-stuff/gettin-lucky/

Are you excited for March Madness? More excited than everyone else you know? Want to bet on it? Before you answer that, you should probably check your company’s guidelines first.

Workers across the country are researching stats, crunching numbers and calling their ESPN-addicted cousins in order to fill out their March Madness brackets. Yet, they might be unaware that 23 percent of employers have a written policy regarding gambling, and an additional 10 percent have an unwritten or understood policy, according to a recent survey from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). This figure might not sound significant, but in 2006 only 14 percent had a written policy and 7 percent had an unwritten policy, suggesting companies are watching workplace betting more than they used to.

Companies who do have policies regarding gambling (and yes, putting money on March Madness counts) say the following:

• 83 percent prohibit any form of gambling on company premises
• 72 percent will take disciplinary action (not including termination) for violating the  policy
• 70 percent prohibit gambling where money is exchanged
• 67 percent have provisions for termination if the gambling policy is violated

Of all the events that workers bet on, Super Bowl ranks as the most popular and the NCAA college basketball tournament comes in second. (If you look at a CareerBuilder survey from last year, you’ll also see that people bet on some strange stuff. How odd? Well, they’ve bet on when a large pile of snow in the parking lot would melt and what co-workers cholesterol numbers would be.)

What’s interesting is that 55 percent of employers consider office pools to have a positive impact on employee morale. Yet, 37 percent believe office pools have a negative impact on productivity. So betting in the office can make you happy but unproductive … take note, everyone.

Judging by the survey results, most employers aren’t anti-gambling. Unless the company has rules against gambling, your office pool is harmless. So go ahead and fill out your bracket if you want, but don’t let it affect your productivity. You don’t want to give your employer a reason to institute a policy against pools if none exists.

Before you let March Madness overtake you, keep the following tips in mind:

• Do your research and strategizing on your own time.
  Don’t waste hours of your company’s time putting player stats in a spreadsheet when you should be doing your job.
• Check the rules
  Even if you’re pretty sure no rules exist about betting, you should double check. Maybe you can bet but you can’t put money on it. Better to be informed than surprised by an angry boss or HR person.
• Remember, it’s all fun
  Don’t get so enthralled by the competition that you end up yelling at a co-worker or throwing your coffee mug against the wall. No one will like you, you could get fired and you’ve probably ruined office pools for everyone else, too.
• Don’t force people to play
  Office pools are fun. At least they should be. When an overzealous organizer is going up to each person and giving them a version of LBJ’s Treatment just to pressure them into participating, the fun is gone. Some people just don’t care about the pool, so let them sit it out.

That said, good luck!

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Source: http://www.theworkbuzz.com/current-affairs/march-madness/

“Where exactly are these jobs you keep talking about?”

That is one of the questions we frequently receive here at The Work Buzz. And we do our best to point you in the right direction. Today the Bureau of Labor Statistics made locating these open positions a simpler task by releasing the current January Job Openings and Labor Turnover Report.

It’s a lengthy release, so we’ll just give you some of the highlights.

• On the last day of January, there were 2.7  million job openings
• The job openings rate increased to 2.1 percent, which is the highest it’s been since February of last year
• Over the 12-month period ending in January, 48.4 million workers gained employment and 52.4 million workers separated from their jobs (a figure that includes both layoffs and resignations). Therefore the period saw a loss of 4 million workers.

Which industries have the most job openings?

The most opportunities exist in education and health services, where you can 620,000 positions were open at the end of January. In the same month 520,000 were hired into this industry, suggesting that employers are actively trying to get people onboard as soon as possible.

Professional and business services have the second highest amount of openings with 508,000. Trade, transportation and utilities come in third, with a respectable 482,000 available positions.

And perhaps the best news:

The layoffs and discharges rate fell over the year in many industries, including construction, durable goods manufacturing, nondurable goods manufacturing, wholesale trade, information, finance and insurance, real estate and rental and leasing, and other services. Regionally, the rate fell over the year in 3 of the 4 regions—Midwest, Northeast, and South. The layoffs and discharges rate did not rise over the year in any industry or region.

Not only are jobs waiting for the right candidate (you!), but industries aren’t laying off and discharging workers at the same rates as last year. I think we all want some good news, so we’ll take it.

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Source: http://www.theworkbuzz.com/employment-trends/where-are-the-jobs-education-and-health-services-thats-where/

Hello, everyone-

As our last post said, we’re holding a contest where we ask you to submit your questions based on that week’s topic. We’ll choose one person’s question to answer and then send him or her a copy of Career Building, which will bring you hours of joy for the rest of your life. It’s a contest that’s fun and informative — what more could you want?

This week’s topic is interviewing. We want to know what questions you have about interviewing. We’ll pick a unique question that we haven’t tackled before and that we think other job seekers or professionals are wondering about, too.

If you want to see a list of interview questions we’ve already answered over the history of The Work Buzz, look here.

Remember, for this week’s topic, submit your comments to this post by 11.59 p.m. CST. We’ll answer the question on Friday and notify the winner via e-mail to send him or her the book, so make sure you provide a valid e-mail addres to us. (Refer to the previous post to read the rules and regulations.)

So, readers, let’s hear your questions about interviews!

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Source: http://www.theworkbuzz.com/interviews/contest-interviews/

We’ve been a little crazed here at TheWorkBuzz lately and just realized the day has passed without posting our regular breakdown of the BLS’s monthly unemployment numbers. Luckily, our colleagues at TheHiringSite.com have already written about that very subject so we’ll refer you to their post.

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Source: http://www.theworkbuzz.com/employment-trends/february-job-numbers-redux/

After a lot of sound and even more fury, the House of Representatives finally passed a $15 billion jobs bill. (Yes, billion.) The bill has been debated, criticized, lauded, feared, analyzed and everything else you can possibly do to a bill. The final vote was 217-201.

Some critics (in the House and in the general population) feel the bill is unnecessary. Others think it doesn’t do enough. Many observers feel it’s close but not perfect. And some people actually like it. What’s all the fuss about? Well, here are some of the highlights of the bill to give you an idea of what the Senate needs to approve next week before anything else happens (via AP):

 The $100 billion-plus bill would extend unemployment assistance, revive a bevy of expired tax breaks, help states with soaring Medicaid costs and prevent doctors from having to absorb big cuts in Medicare payments. The popular initiatives are traditionally extended on a bipartisan basis for brief periods of time, which hides their long-term costs.

First, [the jobs bill] would exempt businesses hiring the unemployed from the 6.2 percent Social Security payroll tax through December and give them an additional $1,000 credit if new workers stay on the job a full year.

Second, it would extend highway and mass transit programs through the end of the year and pump in $20 billion for the spring construction season. The money would make up for lower-than-expected gasoline tax revenues.

You’ll be hearing more about this in the coming days, weeks and months. If you love it or hate it, I think we can all agree that hopefully positive results will come from this.

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Source: http://www.theworkbuzz.com/current-affairs/house-passes-jobs-bill/

Try to have a conversation about your job without complaining about your boss or griping about the little things just eat at your nerves. Like peanut butter and jelly or Ricky and Lucy, work and complaints belong together. Due to the nature of my job, I see a lot of data about workers and job satisfaction. More often than not workers have a list of grievances to address with their employers. Factor in the recent recession, which burdened many workers with extra responsibility after layoffs, and you’ve got one disgruntled workforce.

Or so I thought.

Color me foolish upon reading that 70 percent of workers consider their current jobs ideal, according to a new Gallup Daily survey. Seventy. Seven. Zero. Maybe I’m naïve but that number surprised me.

Not surprising, however, is the correlation between income and viewing a job as ideal. Of workers who earn $12,000 or less, only 57 percent think they work in a job that is ideal for them. For workers earning $120,000 or more, the number jumps to 77 percent.

Workers in certain industries are also much more likely to consider their jobs ideal than others. For example, business owners, farmers and professionals (think of doctors, lawyers, teachers and the like) think they’re in an ideal position with 87, 82 and 79 percent respectively. This shouldn’t be surprising, I suppose. If you’re a business owner, you actively began your own venture, so chances are the job is the direct result of your efforts. Professionals often go to school and train for several years, so they’ve been preparing for this position. However, service, clerical and manufacturing workers had the lowest views of being in ideal workplaces, as they all hovered near 60 percent.

Age factors into the equation of ideals, too. If you’re 18-29 years old, only 52 percent of you think your current job is deal. But if you’re 50-65 years old, then 78 percent of you are in an ideal job. Again, not surprising. At the start of your career, you’re trying to accrue experience and probably don’t have the professional capital to land the job of your dreams. By the time you’re nearing retirement, hopefully you’ve been able to work toward the job you’ve always wanted or that best suits you.

I recommend reading all the survey results because there are a lot of ways to slice the data and see different patterns. It’s also interesting to think that, even now, when employees are struggling to get their work done because they’re doing the jobs of several people in this economy, more than half of all demographics view their jobs as ideal. Overall, people with jobs are doing what they think is right for them.

So how about you—what’s the ideal job for you? Are you in one? Did you previously have one? If you’re looking for one, what are the qualifications necessary to make it ideal? Let us know!

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Source: http://www.theworkbuzz.com/job-surveys/ideal-job/

Millennials get a lot of attention these days. For some strange reason everyone seems to be fascinated with the current crop of young workers. Maybe we’re all taking Whitney Houston too seriously when she sings that the children are our future. Regardless, you can’t pick up a newspaper or blog (including this one) without reading about the exotic culture of the 18-29 crowd. These professional newcomers are revolutionizing the workplace … or so we’re told.

A new study from the Pew Research Center looks at what makes Millennials different from the 30 and older crowd. The study looks at all aspects of this generation’s characteristics, from their politics to their views on family responsibility. Although no study can define every member of a group, these results show a generational consensus on many issues.

According to the study, Millennials are experiencing economic hardships due to the recession, but their attitudes don’t reflect it.

About two-thirds of Millennials (68 percent) say they are not earning enough money to live the kind of life they want. However, within that group the vast majority (88 percent) say they expect to earn enough in the future to live the good life. That is significantly higher than the percentage of Gen Xers (76 percent) or Baby Boomers (46 percent) who share this hopeful view.

You might think that this optimism is curious, especially considering what they’re up against. After all, the economy hasn’t been great for anyone, much less for young people who haven’t had time to accumulate a financial safety net. Yet, the survey points out, the optimism might not be entirely unfounded:

Time is on their side. When the jobs return, the survey results suggest these young people will be prepared. Millennials appear to be on track to becoming the most educated generation in America’s history. Millennials have not yet matched the educational attainment of Gen Xers. So far, 19% are college graduates compared with 35 percent of Gen Xers.”

The study goes on to talk about a lot of stuff — and it’s interesting to see not only what Millennials say but how they compare to past generations. It’s worth a thorough reading.

We’ve mentioned here before and in articles that this generation loves technology, embraces collaboration and expects to climb the professional ladder faster than past generations. We know this (and the study goes into more detail). We are dealing with a group of professionals who have an impressive amount of education but many obstacles in their way, so no rules exist on what they should expect.

Looking at this study, do you think Millennials have a reason to be optimistic or would you caution them to be less hopeful? Are you one of these Millennials?

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Source: http://www.theworkbuzz.com/employment-trends/millennial-optimism/

When I look back at pictures of myself from years ago — specifically the 1980s — I cringe. The jeans, the ill-fitting shirts, the hair gel. At the time I thought I looked cool and no one told me otherwise. Alas, the pictures do not lie. I have the same feelings about my earliest job interviews, where I thought I was smooth and polished. I was actually a fumbling mess. I remember telling an interviewer that, no, I didn’t know anything about the company.

Looking at a recent CareerBuilder survey, I suppose many other job seekers share the same face-in-the-palm level of embarrassment about some of their missteps. For the survey, employers were asked to name some of the most notable interview mistakes they’ve witnessed, and they gave some whoppers. As outrageous as some of these missteps are, I’m sure we’ve all had interviews we wish we could take back. The professional equivalent of acid-washed jeans, if you will.

Here are some of the most entertaining responses:

• Candidate wore a business suit with flip flops.
• Candidate asked if the interviewer wanted to meet for a drink after.
• Candidate had applied for an accounting job, yet said he was “bad at managing money.”
• Candidate recited poetry.
• Candidate applying for a customer service job said “I don’t really like working with people.”
• Candidate used Dungeons and Dragons as an example of teamwork.
• Candidate filed fingernails.

Even if you haven’t exhibited interview behavior on this level, you might have still left an unfavorable impression behind. According to employers, these are the most common mistakes candidates make during interviews:

• Dressing inappropriately
• Appearing disinterested
• Speaking negatively about a current or previous employer
• Appearing arrogant
• Answering a cell phone or texting during the interview
• Not providing specific answers
• Not asking good questions

In the full release, vice president of human resources Rosemary Haefner offers several tips on how to avoid being the candidate who is singled out for strange behavior. Perhaps the most important piece of advice she gives is to practice. The more prepared you are, the less likely you are to ramble or say something you’ll eventually regret. Read the rest of the release for more tips and examples of interview faux pas.

So how about it, readers–who else can admit to some embarrassing interview behavior? Surely I’m not the only one.

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Source: http://www.theworkbuzz.com/career-advice/interview-mistakes-you-wish-you-could-take-back/

Talk of workplace productivity, motivation and passion (or lack thereof) typically focuses on employees and what they’re doing wrong. “Are you slacking off on the job?” “Is your bad attitude hurting your career?” (I even admit to addressing similar topics here and in articles.) Bosses are left to wonder how they can get the best out of their workers. But sometimes, the situation is reversed and the boss is the one who needs to get back to work.

A fellow writer over at The Hiring Site passed along this AP article (via The New York Times) tackles the subject and helps workers deal with a boss that just doesn’t care anymore. In an ideal world you (the employee) could thump the boss on the head and say, “Snap out of it!” But that won’t do you any good. And if we’re in ideal worlds, you’d probably be the boss and we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

In the article, different career experts offer their advice and share their experiences. Robert I. Sutton, author of ”Good Boss, Bad Boss,” recalls one group of workers who were direct with their boss — probably more direct than most employees would be or have the freedom to be.

At one company, Sutton says, four or five influential employees gathered together and confronted their boss, saying: ”We’ve admired the work you’ve done in the past, but if you don’t change your behavior, we think you should step down.”

It was a risky move, and one that’s not appropriate for every company. But those employees felt OK going with the direct approach, since they knew it was difficult for the boss to fire them.

The experts in the article point out that you have several different options, but you have to choose the one that suits you. A direct confrontation has risks. Going to a third party can backfire. Suffering in silence can just make you miserable. What you choose to do depends on your situation.

A few months ago I asked you to list the qualities of a good boss and many of you did (thanks!). Now that we’re on the flip side of the issue, I’m wondering how many of you have encountered a boss who was mentally checked out. How did you know that your boss had given up on the job and wasn’t just having a bad day? How did you respond?

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Source: http://www.theworkbuzz.com/work/the-boss-doesnt-care-anymore-so-now-what/