Career Development

New York State's Labor Department vigorously enforces state labor laws to provide a level playing field for law-abiding employers. We work aggressively to ensure a fair wage for all workers and protect the safety and health of workers and the public. We assist the unemployed by providing temporary financial assistance, connect job seekers with employers, and build a workforce that helps New York's businesses compete in today's global economy.

Our careers and our lives are constantly changing. With so many twists and turns it is almost guaranteed that our career plans will not be stagnant. There are many different types of individuals who are moving in/out of a traditional career. Recently the term "comeback parent" has been coined for the parent who has left a paid position outside the home to raise a family, and is now returning to paid external employment. Another example is the graduate student who alternates full time employment with full or part time education. Some leave to take care of an aging relative, start a private practice or a business, attend to personal health issues, or even work part-time from home. While juggling various roles in life, it is important to manage our careers even if it is not currently the highest priority. Networking is an important way to effectively and efficiently tend to your career at all times.

While understanding the Internet's role in the job search and career development has always been important for professionals, the emergence of new Web technologies, such as social media, blogging and social networking have permanently changed the playing field.

Facebook is, according to its own Terms of Use, an online directory that connects people through networks of academic and geographic centers, which is becoming increasingly popular among high school and college students. They use it as a means of staying in contact with their old and new friends across the globe. It seems innocent, but do they know that employers, parents and even the Secret Service have access to their Facebook? This article will address what Facebook is, how students use it, how others can use it, and most importantly, how Career Centers can educate students to use Facebook as a positive means of networking.

The U.S. has shed 7.2 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007. How long will it take for the economy to replace them? And where will the jobs come from? The questions haunt people from the unemployed in San Francisco to officials in Washington. Glenn Atias lost his job as a $100,000-a-year statistician at a market-research firm in the Bay Area last summer when the work was outsourced to India. At 46 years old, he pores over job ads and online postings daily. "I'm stuck watching hundreds of thousands of people in my position grow in ranks each and every month," said Mr. Atias, who lives in Salton City, Calif., in a house worth less than the mortgage. When unemployment benefits run out, he said, "I literally don't know how I'll pay my mortgage, how I'll pay my health care."

The bad economy and the deteriorating commercial real-estate market have motivated some small-business owners to fight their tax assessments. Ann Jones of Columbia, S.C., thought there might be a mistake when she received a property valuation from Richland County in January. The co-owner of the Dog Eared Corner LLC, a pet-grooming company, saw her commercial property's value assessed at $287,000, after she had just bought the three-story building three months earlier for only $210,000.

Protecting your company's reputation is now a 24-hour vigil. Negative reviews - whether they're merited or not - can turn away potential customers and vendors, and reflect badly on your company's brand.

I spent most of my early career trying to do things perfectly. And as you can imagine, this didn't work out very well. Screw-ups happen, and how you cope with them is a strong measure of your overall effectiveness in a work environment.

In this economy, you need to take advantage of every available resource to propel your career. Finding a mentor-and preferably a network of mentors-is an easy and smart way to get started. And, it won't set you back financially the way hiring a career coach would. Here's how.

In October 2007, Susan Guldenschuh lost her job as a human-resources supervisor for Circuit City Stores Inc., which shut all its stores earlier this year. She landed a professional human-relations position elsewhere five months later. But when the downturn deepened, she got laid off again last December. The Louisville, Ky., resident pursued more than 100 openings, including a receptionist's spot. Mrs. Guldenschuh was finally hired again a few weeks ago. She is now an hourly worker, taking online orders for Guess Inc.

Sheila is a claims processor at a major automotive company. Due to recent declines in the economy, she has recently been given notice that her position will terminate in two weeks. A despondent Sheila makes an appointment with the career consultant employed to assist with terminated workers. Upon hearing Sheila's story it might not surprise you to hear that the counselor plans to consult various websites during her work with Sheila. As professional career counselors, we are practiced at using career-based websites to assist clients with finding resources for taking interest inventories, engaging in job searches, finding occupational information, and creating resumes. However, Sheila's counselor is not looking at these types of websites. There are other beneficial websites that may not be as apparent or as frequently used. There are many websites that have information on career development theories that may be useful to counselors who are working to resolve the dilemmas of their clients. Below are several websites on the theories of cognitive, sociological, trait-factor, and on diversity issues that Sheila's counselor, and many of you, may find useful.

Writing a will in your 20s might seem premature. But even young workers with meager assets should consider preparing a will and other legal documents -- such as a health-care directive and durable power of attorney -- to make sure their personal, financial and medical wishes are met if they become disabled or pass away.

Penelope Trunk knows something about risk. A nationally syndicated columnist, Ms. Trunk shocked the business community when she revealed intimate details of her personal life on her blog. At the time, many weren't sure this was the right move, but the blog shot up in popularity and eventually garnered over 30,000 subscribers.

For many companies, tough economic times inevitably end up pushing the work environment to the back burner. Benefits are slashed, innovative programs are dropped, employees get shut out of big decisions. Employees are lucky to have a job, many bosses figure. Anything extra is unaffordable.

Your written plan describes your business, outlines your goals and serves as a road map for future activities- everything from handling unforeseen complications to repaying borrowed money. It's a document that should grow with your business, undergoing constant tweaks as your big idea evolves from a concept into a successful company.

The internship, in which she worked 15 hours a week researching and blogging about corporate workplace benefits, was virtual-she needed only a computer and Internet access. Ms. Roig, a senior at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, never even met her boss, in Atlanta.

The prospect of losing one's job is a very daunting fear for most people. Changes that come with the loss of a job can affect one socially, emotionally as well as financially.

The Morning Journal brought a lot of bad news to the residents of Lorain, Ohio, this past December. Layoffs at a major steel company, at a trucking company, and throughout the county government. And, of course, Ford Motor Company, a major local employer, was in turmoil.