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To change perceptions about your employment status, start with the way you network. When you have been out of work for a while, people in your network may feel guilty because they are employed and you are not, says Lavie Margolin, a career coach in New York City and author of "Lion Cub Job Search." You don't want them to feel sorry for you or to see you as defeated, so make sure you have something to offer them, whether it's sharing an article in a trade magazine, talking about an industry blog or mentioning a professional opportunity they may not know about, he says.

"A new report from office-space company Regus PLC says 64% of U.S. employees will be working the week between Christmas and New Year's, with 56% actually coming into the office. But is anyone really productive? According to the survey of more than 12,000 employees worldwide, just 39% of U.S. respondents say they expect workers to actually do much work."

"The economic and educational disadvantages of low-income black students who struggle to complete college are well-documented. While black students at elite universities don't necessarily fit into that category, a new book says they face social and institutional obstacles of their own - obstacles that ultimately drive them away from the high-status, high-paying jobs that they're qualified for in fields such as engineering, science, finance and information technology. And while the reasons are complex, universities are partly at fault, the book argues."

"Even though it's not virtually an individual, your resume speaks. Loudly. It tells people everything they have to understand regarding probably hiring you. Say one amongst these four things and therefore the answer is probably going to be "no:""

Realistically, your husband's chances of "going back" to the large company are minimal, at best, say the experts. "Companies are a lot like human beings," says Al Stewart, president of Business Mentors, Inc., a career management consulting firm based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

"NBC made two critical missteps six years ago when the network signed Mr. O'Brien to replace Mr. Leno in 2009, say management consultants. It's a bad idea to promise someone a promotion in order to retain him, they say, and so is naming a successor too far in advance. "

"After three rounds of interviews for a sales position with Prudential Insurance Co. of America, Patricia Rosa received a letter in February saying her job application was denied based on information from a background check she authorized the company to conduct. The only blemish on her record, she says: Poor credit that built up since she lost her job two years ago."

"Matthew Gonzales Sanchez calls it his "midterm crisis." Halfway through the first semester of his freshman year here at Our Lady of the Lake University, he considered dropping out. He had failed all of his midterms. "It scared me because, man, I was giving it my all," says Mr. Gonzales Sanchez, 22. "I thought, 'What am I doing wrong? They say college isn't for everybody, and maybe that's me - maybe I'm not one of those people who belongs in college.'""

"When the number of employees Matt Kaplan managed at a lab at the University of Arizona in Tucson mushroomed from six to 30, the school called in a management coach to make sure he was prepared. What he learned surprised him-his employees thought he was distant and didn't trust their work. "The biggest challenge for me was realizing I couldn't do everything myself," he says. "I had to learn to trust my team, which was a gradual process." Experts say many bosses are similarly clueless about their appearance to employees. Here are five signals you may be one of them."

On the worst days, Chris Keehn used to go 24 hours without seeing his daughter with her eyes open. A soft-spoken tax accountant in Deloitte's downtown Chicago office, he hated saying no when she asked for a ride to preschool. By November, he'd had enough. "I realized that I can have control of this," he says with a small shrug. Keehn, 33, met with two of the firm's partners and his senior manager, telling them he needed a change. They went for it. In January, Keehn started telecommuting four days a week, and when Kathryn, 4, starts T-ball this summer, he will be sitting along the baseline.

Typically, the length of a job hunt is a factor of what you do and the demand for it, says Tony Beshara, a Dallas-based job-search consultant and author of "The Job-Search Solution" (2006). Economic conditions may play a role, too. For instance, the current turmoil in banking and financial services means that someone in that industry probably will take longer to find a new job than a candidate in another field, says Nella Barkley, president and co-founder of Crystal-Barkley Corp., a career-coaching company in New York.

Julie M. Heup, an unemployed structural engineer from Slinger, Wis., recently attended a networking event where she handed a local employer two business cards: her own and that of her husband, Mark. Mr. Heup, a jobless supply-chain manager, often returns the favor. The two 40-year-olds never anticipated simultaneous layoffs. "I figured the likelihood of it happening at the same time was slim to none," says Mr. Heup, who lost his job three months after his wife did in November. That's why "we are supporting each other," he says.

According to Stephen M.R. Covey, author of "The Speed of Trust," trust is the confidence one instills in others based on character and competence. Mr. Covey says that a lack of it has a major impact on performance. "Everything slows down in a company with low trust. You see an increase in bureaucracy and redundancy, and excess policies and procedures. Organizations are becoming painfully aware of how expensive this is, and they are taking steps to become trusted players from the inside out," he says.

Seventy-seven percent of members of Freelancers Union, which has 120,000 members nationwide, have had clients that didn't pay at least once, says Sara Horowitz, executive director. Worse yet, more companies are trying to renegotiate lower prices with freelancers after work has been delivered, says Gary Swart, chief executive of oDesk, a freelance-management Web site that acts as a liaison between freelancers and clients.

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.

How do you get kids ready to become entrepreneurs? Journal Report Read the complete Small Business report. The classic answer, of course, is the lemonade stand: Encourage your kids to start a homespun business instead of just bugging you for money. But entrepreneurs and educators say the real solution goes much deeper than that. There are crucial psychological traits an entrepreneur needs to succeed, they say, and parents should help kids develop them at every opportunity. Here's a look at those attributes-and how to foster them.

An expert astrologer would closely analyze the horoscopes or janama kundali of both the man and the woman who are trying to have a child. The astrologer would be able to tell them reasons that are impacting the chances of conception, they can poinpoint the timelines when the chances are highest or lowest, and finally give the remedies and solutions that can be tried to get children.

"Good teaching and exposure to students from diverse backgrounds are some of the strongest predictors of whether freshmen return for a second year of college and improve their critical-thinking skills, say two prominent researchers."

Social-media profiles are increasingly important in building your business identity. "It's a hugely powerful branding tool-and you have to be very strategic about building it," says Nicole Williams, connection director for LinkedIn.

"Workers fired or disciplined for bad-mouthing employers on social-networking sites are fighting back using a decades-old labor law-a new front in the murky battle over what workers can do and say online."