Career Development

"In Saturday's WSJ, writer Virginia Postrel has a retrospective on the "Mommy Track." She takes us back to a controversial 1989 Harvard Business Review article by Felice N. Schwartz called "Management Women and the New Facts of Life." Schwartz started with the fact that not all working women want the same things. Some are chiefly career-focused, making "the same trade-offs traditionally made by the men who seek leadership positions." However, most women want children, Schwartz wrote, and "are willing to trade some career growth and compensation for freedom from the constant pressure to work long hours and weekends.""

"[I]f you are asked "how has your teaching changed over the years" or "how has your management of people changed over the years" or "how has your interaction with clients changed over the years" the wrong answer is "it hasn't.""

"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. "

10 Great Green Opportunities October 31, 2007 | Brita Belli | Everything's coming up green. Across every industry, new job possibilities are emerging for those with the skills to bridge the divide between the old, fossil-fuel-based economy and the new, energy-efficient one. Corporations once demonized for their role in creating pollution and exploiting workers are being held accountable; they are partnering with nonprofits and hiring corporate social responsibility managers. They are finding that reducing their impact is as good for future profits as for the planet at large. There's no secret to getting a job in the new green economy. It's as basic as applying the job skills you've already developed (web design, sales, management) to a nonprofit or sustainable industry, or coordinating sustainable practices from within a corporate entity. Sometimes, as in green building or solar panel installing, these green jobs require a specific set of skills-and classes are organizing to fill the growing need. Other times, as in the organic food industry, ecotourism or sales and marketing of energy-efficient technology, anyone with a good work ethic can get in and create a great green career.

After working for more than six years as manager of digital licensing for Warner Music Group in Burbank, Calif., Michael Locke, 34, felt like he wanted more. But there wasn't much latitude for change within his job and department.

There are many reasons U.S. companies give for their lack of robust hiring -- from weak consumer spending to uncertainty over the direction of government policies on debt and spending. Some industries have significantly boosted employment over the past year while others continue to shed workers. But even those adding jobs are hiring far fewer than would be needed to put America's 14.1 million unemployed back to work. Here's what it looks like on the ground in some industries:

The economic downturn has forced employers to tighten their belts and do more with less. With fewer resources available, many companies have refrained from handing out raises, even when an employee is given additional responsibilities and a title change. According to a recent study from OfficeTeam, a subsidiary of staffing firm Robert Half International, about one in five human resources managers have acknowledged that awarding promotions without salary increases is at least a "somewhat common" practice at their company.

The economic downturn has forced employers to tighten their belts and do more with less. With fewer resources available, many companies have refrained from handing out raises, even when an employee is given additional responsibilities and a title change.

Recession-scarred families are still not ready to go out and splurge on vacation. In fact, many are still cutting back on their big summer holidays.

Over the past 10 years: * The U.S. economy's output of goods and services has expanded 19%. * Nonfinancial corporate profits have risen 85%. * The labor force has grown by 10.1 million. * But the number of private-sector jobs has fallen by nearly two million. * And the percentage of American adults at work has dropped to 58.2%, a low not seen since 1983. What's wrong with the American job engine? As United Technologies Corp. Chief Financial Officer Greg Hayes put it recently: "Sales have come back, but people have not.''

WHAT if you're not happy in your job? Is it possible that you're in the wrong career entirely?

Could you pass a Facebook background search? The next time you apply for a job, don't be surprised if you have to agree to a social-media background check. Many U.S. companies and recruiters are now looking at your Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and other accounts and blogs -- even YouTube -- to paint a clearer picture of who you are. Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903461104576464823762727188.html#ixzz1Tnrdf6Qk

After working a full day at the stables of her horse transport and training business, Melissa Weiser heads to BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse.

Skepticism Over Online College Courses 8/29/2011 1:15:10 PM Fewer than one-third of Americans believe that online college courses provide value equal to classroom instruction, but half of college presidents disagree. Kevin Helliker has details on Lunch Break.

All year long, from every direction, surveys bombard students.

The longer one has been out of work, the harder it is to find a new job. New unemployment figures out Friday from the Labor Department are likely to point to continued pain in August. At last count, nearly 4.5 million Americans had been unemployed for 52 weeks or longer and were still looking for work.

Job candidates get good at smiling into the webcam as interviews via video become increasingly common.

There's an art to dismissing an employee. Using the phone usually isn't the way to go. The recent firing of Yahoo's Carol Bartz via a phone call brings that practice into view.

On one side, the Obama Administration, Capitol Hill Democrats, Wall Street whizzes and budget experts have been wearing out their thesauruses looking up new words for "catastrophe" as they try to explain to the public that failing to raise the $14.3 trillion federal debt limit by Aug. 2 would result in a radically different country on Aug. 3. Read more: http://curiouscapitalist.blogs.time.com/2011/07/19/debt-ceiling-could-a-deal-cost-the-economy-a-million-jobs/#ixzz1SeaCmUlr

I do. I worked in my family business-a funeral home. From the time I was five, my parents found ways for me to "help out." My first responsibility was to collect broken flowers from funeral sprays so my mother could easily vacuum. It might sound morbid-but it was a way for my parents to spend time with me, instead of dropping me off with a baby sitter. And I learned some invaluable lessons about work ethic along the way.