Career Development

"There's been no shortage of warnings about the career dangers of posting racy content on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Yet many job hunters still don't heed that advice, and others don't realize they're doing just as much damage by doing things like bending the truth or spamming their résumés. Recruiters say such faux-pas can result in immediate and lasting career damage."

"You messed up a job search, making a faux pas during an interview or handling a turndown badly. But you probably don't realize that your mistake, exacerbated by the tight job market, could harm your long-term prospects. "

"A new study shows a large gap in perceptions among the sexes in who has more opportunities for advancement-men or women."

"When Margaret Tahyar was a teenager, she spent her free time working as a carhop for the local Big Boy Restaurant in Rochester, Michigan. As far from law as waiting on car patrons may be, Ms. Tahyar says the job prepared her well for her current position as a partner in the Financial Institutions Group at law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell."

"As talk of a thaw in hiring freezes rises above a whisper, many people are already planning to look for a new position when the job market picks up. "

"Ever wonder what exactly goes on behind the scenes when you apply for a job? While the recruiting process varies by industry, company and even department, the end result is the same: One person out of many receives an offer. "

"Heather Logrippo says her employees didn't seem too enthusiastic at first when she handed out construction paper and crayons and told them to find a quiet place for 30 minutes."

"A new Conference Board study shows that only 45% of Americans are satisfied with their work -- the lowest level recorded in the 22 years this report has existed."

"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. "

"With prospects for new jobs or promotions still looking grim, many workers are struggling to take their careers to the next level. Some, though, have found ways to cope and make themselves more marketable for when companies start hiring again."

Many workers who lost jobs in the hardest-hit sectors of the economy are now looking to change careers. But crafting a résumé that shows the benefits of hiring an industry outsider can be challenging.

How the Great Recession Reshaped the U.S. Job Market

Even when the U.S. labor market finally starts adding more workers than it loses, many of the unemployed will find that the types of jobs they once had simply don't exist anymore.

Chart.

At least twice a month throughout the recession, headhunters have dangled job opportunities in front of Ryan McAllister, an actuary for Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. in Novato, Calif. "If I were ever unhappy with my employer, I could pick up the phone and find something else very quickly," says the 28-year-old Mr. McAllister. He joined the high-net-worth property and casualty insurer after graduating in 2005 from the University of California at Davis, with a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics.

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.

December issue of Employment in New York State is now available.

Winter 2009-2010 issue on Charting the Projections 2008-2018 is now available online.

Recent economic events have forced colleges and universities to streamline their academic offerings congruent with a more pragmatic cost-benefit approach, usually at the expense of their liberal-arts programs. When a foreign-language or philosophy department graduates only a few students per year, there is no financial argument to be made for keeping the department intact. Traditional reasoning about the enrichment of the "student as future citizen" can only go so far when parents who pay the tuition or students taking the courses can't see a bottom line in the form of a lucrative job after graduation.