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Mentors can be essential, especially for people making career transformations. But unfortunately, a lot of mentor relationships fall apart after a few months because there is no formal structure to support them.

Longtime runner Ray Gobis posted a 3:09 at the Boston Marathon in April-his personal best. The cause wasn't a new training technique or the perfect weather. It was because Mr. Gobis got laid off.

Most career advice you receive focuses on the big picture: how to get ahead, how to "win," and such things that are on a much larger scale than the daily grind that most of us face. In fact, it is that day to day grind that pulls down many of us - we go to work, come home exhausted, and often feel as though we're just spinning our wheels.

Article on different job search methods for recent graduates and their parents

15 Career Mistakes I've written other newsletter articles about careers (see the links throughout this article as well as at the end of the article), but until now I've never specifically written an article about career mistakes. I think the subject has been too personal - I've made a lot of these career mistakes myself, and it's hard for me to admit my failures. But in the interest of helping others avoid some of the mistakes I've made, I've decided to go ahead and create a list of the major career mistakes that I've made or that I've seen other people in IT make. Let me know if you think of other mistakes that should also be on the list.

Q: My wife joined a mentor program that was suggested to her by a very senior company official. The same official recommended a mentor who is only one level above her while everyone else has a mentor three levels higher. She feels very slighted and is not sure what to say -- or if she should say anything at all. I know in this current uneasy environment workers probably don't want any added responsibilities, which would make it difficult to find quality mentors.

A few months ago, Andrea Kornfeld was working on a computer program to shave milliseconds off of transactions at Merrill Lynch. Now, she's spending her severance pay on a mosquito net and malaria pills for her new job: as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching computer skills to high-school students in Cameroon.

Out of work for months? Prevent your professional skills from atrophying by taking steps to brush up.

Last July Ben Wallace spent a week at Boy Scout Camp with his then 9-year-old son. The two fished, canoed, sat around the campfire, and bonded with dozens of other scouts and parents-something he wouldn't have had time for if he had been employed.

It's no secret that job security is a thing of the past. Taking on part-time work-especially in a creative arena you've always wanted to pursue-is one way to earn extra income and begin exploring new work opportunities before it becomes a necessity, says Scott Belsky, CEO and founder of Behance, a New York-based company that develops products and online tools for creative industries.

CareerTV.com is a global Internet and social media company specializing in streaming employer branding and career videos across the web. Our audience is students and young professionals from all over the world researching and planning their careers. The companies we profile are the most sought-after employers in the world. Founded in 2006, CareerTV is a privately held company with presence in San Francisco, San Diego, Philadelphia, Stockholm, Oslo, Helsinki, London, Paris, Cologne and Hong Kong.

"Would you work 100 hours a week for your dream job, or simply to have a job at all? Juggle contributor Kyle Stock asks these questions over at FINS.com, a Wall Street Journal site focused on careers. Here's an excerpt:"

"Are slackers more adept at handling work-life stress than type-A go-getters? A new study finds that may be the case. Those who cope with work-family conflict by becoming busier and looking for more resources to solve problems - type-A multitaskers - actually experience more stress and strain, says the study in the Journal of Applied Psychology. The researchers studied 193 people who were all combining work and college studies with family duties."

"When considering starting a new business or simply doing some consulting on the side, it is important to determine your main strengths and skills as a professional to evaluate the most appropriate industry to target or the best people with whom to network. "

"How far would you move for a job? Moving is complex and expensive, but sometimes job survival means workers don't have much of a choice, especially if you're unlucky enough to live in an area plagued by unemployment."

"he Career Counselor's Handbook (2nd Ed.) by Howard Figler & Richard N. Bolles. Ten Speed Press, 2007, 301 pp. ISBN 9781580088701. $19.99 Both Figler and Bolles have over six decades of experience in the field of career development, and both have written best sellers about the subject, including The Complete Job-Search Handbook (Figler, 1999) and What Color is Your Parachute? (Bolles, 2009). Figler and Bolles have combined their experience to produce a practical guide with The Career Counselor's Handbook. The book includes a discussion of the history and definition of career counseling, a sample of tools, tips for dealing with difficult clients, an overview of the values that shape career work, and guidelines for establishing and maintaining a career in this field."

"I was privileged to hear His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama speak as he accepted the International Freedom Conductor Award in Cincinnati, Ohio in October 2010. As a career coach, I reflected on his words to see how these might apply to life and work, especially for those in a life or career transition. These ideas are applicable to both career coaches and clients alike."

"Developing employment opportunities for individuals with difficult backgrounds can be extremely challenging, especially in today's economy. Even when these candidates have strong vocational skills, many have difficulty finding or keeping good jobs. They just can't get along with their coworkers, won't listen to their supervisors, seem unwilling to follow common sense expectations. Why is this, and what can we do to help?"

Selling is all about building relationships. Focusing on the positive ones is imperative, according to Philip Styrlund, CEO of the Summit Group, a sales training firm. The same is true of your career.

o get you prepared, here are 20 real job interview questions that such companies as Google, Capital One and Goldman Sachs asked internships candidate. The interview questions were compiled by Glassdoor.com, an online job community that encourages people to anonymously share that inside look at jobs and companies.