Career Development

For employers, Twitter-where users post updates, or "tweets," of no more than 140 characters-offers one more way to find and attract candidates, and a cheaper alternative to big online job boards. It also helps companies target social-media-savvy job hunters and convey an innovative image. For job seekers, Twitter offers the chance to interact one-on-one with companies' recruiters and can be more convenient than job boards.

Most people in the job market today would consider themselves lucky to get a single offer. Receiving multiple offers sounds like a dream, but for some, this scenario is very real. They are the candidates everyone wants.

ISAAC: The week before college starts has been a lot of fun on campus. It's when you get the beginning-of-college experience -- getting new classmates, attending school events, exploring the area and enjoying the new freedoms of college -- without the stress and time consumption of classes. But that's soon going to change.

It was 4 p.m. on a recent Friday-a time of the week when I usually relax and leave the rest of my to-do list to finish over the weekend. But as this recent weekend approached, I kept pushing myself, heart pumping, to get to the bottom of my list of planned tasks for the week.

Career Planning the Second Time Around

Angel Román, a group member, was interviewed and quoted in this article. Kudos!

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.

Even before the financial crisis, many baby boomers hadn't saved enough for retirement. Then stocks plummeted. In 1998, the average 50-year-old who had been working for at least 10 years had a 401(k) balance of $85,000, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Factor in the recent market drop, and more than a decade later, that worker's 401(k) has grown to just $93,000. In short, we keep getting older, but our 401(k) balances, they stay the same.

Work-life balance. In most corporate circles, it's the sort of phrase that gives hard-charging managers the hives, bringing to mind yoga-infused, candlelit meditation sessions and - more frustratingly - rows of empty office cubicles.

It's no secret that U.S. workers are in trouble, with the unemployment rate at 8.9% and rising. At the same time, the world faces a long-term climate crisis. But what if there is a way to solve both problems with one policy? A number of environmentalists and economists believe that by implementing a comprehensive energy program, we can not only avert the worst consequences of climate change but also create millions of new jobs - green jobs - in the U.S. "We can allow climate change to wreak unnatural havoc, or we can create jobs preventing its worst effects," President Barack Obama said recently. "We know the right choice."

The Recruiter Roundtable is a recurring feature that collects career and job-seeking advice from a group of recruiting experts throughout the United States. The question we put before our panel this month is:

I have been living and working outside of the United States for almost three years. I have a small spa in the Caribbean and due to the slowing economy, have decided to return to the States to utilize my bachelor's degree in communications. Could you give me a bit of advice on how to present my entrepreneurial past to prospective employers as I return to the corporate work force?

The Encyclopedia of Associations is a comprehensive source of detailed information on over 135,000 nonprofit membership organizations worldwide. It corresponds to the printed Encyclopedia of Associations family of publications as follows: National Organizations of the U.S., which covers more than 22,200 American associations of national scope; International Organizations, which covers some 22,300 multi-national, bi-national, and non-U.S. national associations; and Regional, State, and Local Organizations, which covers more than 115,000 U.S. associations with interstate, state, intrastate, city, or local scope or membership. The Encyclopedia of Associations database provides addresses and descriptions of professional societies, trade associations, labor unions, cultural and religious organizations, fan clubs, and other groups of all types.

Kristin Konopka sent out nearly 100 copies of her résumé in January in search of receptionist work, but got only one callback. That's when Ms. Konopka, a 29-year-old New York actress and yoga teacher, took her master's degree and academic teaching experience off her résumé. The calls started coming in. The slimmer version of her résumé landed in 30 in-boxes and earned her three callbacks and two interviews. "It definitely picked up the interest," says Ms. Konopka, who realized quickly that people don't "want to hire anyone who is overqualified."

DENNIS PALUMBO, a Los Angeles-based psychotherapist who treats many artists and other creative types, says his patients previously tended to talk about problems like writer's block, procrastination and fear of rejection.

ON a recent Monday evening in the basement of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Brooklyn Heights, a group of seven local residents gathered to discuss their faith - in the job market. One woman, who had been laid off from a high-powered job at a local hedge fund, sought advice about the benefits of accepting part-time work. Another participant, a man who had worked more than a decade in the technology industry, wondered aloud whether switching fields would be wise.

MY last column, about the best way to use the Web to find a job, got an enormous response - a reflection of our economic times, I recognize, rather than my deathless prose. While many people agreed with the premise of the article (and some vehemently did not), one question popped up several times. It was about my assertion that searching online was great, but that nothing beats face-to-face contacts.

Description: Detailed information on over nonprofit membership organizations worldwide. Includes National Organizations of the U.S., International Organizations, and Regional, State, and Local Organizations. The Encyclopedia of Associations database provides addresses and descriptions of professional societies, trade associations, labor unions, cultural and religious organizations, fan clubs, and other groups of all types Content Type: Directories

Videos, articles, advice, and trends regading to the job market and employment

Earlier this month, Virginia Chu, laid off and looking for job leads, found herself in downtown Manhattan, along with a few hundred other professionals. Like Ms. Chu, 37 years old, most of the attendees at New York's first LaidOffCamp were unemployed and came to listen to advice on topics like starting a business and the basics of networking. But the gathering was not a standard-issue job fair. Instead of hired speakers lecturing on how to find a new job or start a business, the attendees themselves were leading the discussions. And though a few employers were on hand, the focus of the day wasn't on being recruited, but on finding resources and new contacts.