thecareerbeat.com Blog

Volunteering bonus: career advancement

‘Tis the season for giving. Giving of your time, in addition to your money. Volunteering can actually yield great benefits beyond feeling joy at helping others. You could be chopping carrots next to your future boss!

Check out this news feature I saw this morning about the topic. It offers one more good reason to consider volunteering during this season.

In the meantime, happy Thanksgiving!

Getting tempted to shop from work?

The economic climate is frightful, but the urge to shop is getting so delightful. Right now our jobs have many anxieties because of the economic downturn (at least for many of us). Who can blame you for wanting an escape?

But if keeping your job is a priority right now (as it should be for most people), then consider avoiding the onslaught of online sales while you are working.

Even on Cyber Monday (Dec. 1), which some experts say could be the biggest day for retail sales this year.

Don’t just take my word for it, check out the article “Online Shopping on the Job,” which offers some tips about how to avoid risks if you’re thinking of mixing a little shopping with work.

Remember that your employer may monitor your email and Web-surfing activity, and there may be a stated policy against using work equipment for personal use. Big Brother is alive and well in the workplace!

Corporate culture, corporate ‘lattice’

Here is the latest Yahoo! HotJobs weekly poll regarding the importance of corporate culture:

Q	How important is a new employer’s workplace culture to you when changing jobs?
Very important	75%
Somewhat important	18%
Not important	7%
3109 Votes to date

Also, yesterday’s NYT had a very good article about how climbing the corporate ladder is really a thing of the past for most professionals. Now it’s more like navigating a corporate lattice. Good stuff.

Focus on the basics, not the gloom

On the eve of another unemployment report from the government, we’re seeing lots of gloomy news about the job market and rising layoffs. The situation lends itself well to depression and cocooning on the coach until the mood passes, but we must resist that temptation!

Now is the time to pay attention, as if you were steering a sailboat in choppy seas. Keep your head up so you know what’s going on in your company. Listen and read. Stay on top of the big picture in your industry.

And take steps to protect your professional and economic well-being, as this economic storm is going to hover for a while. Two great places to start: your resume, and your cash reserves.

A recent article on “7 Tips for a Better Resume” offers great, simple advice for making sure you’ve always got an effective passport into a new job, if necessary. My favorite tip: Avoid personal pronouns. There is no “I” in “resume.” It’s the one writing sample where fragment sentences are encouraged!

Losing your job unexpectedly is often a disaster, yet how many of us have disaster-preparedness kits for such a thing? A polished resume is one component, another is an emergency fund. If you are curious on how to protect yourself better, read “6 Ways to Save for an Unexpected Job Loss.”

As someone who’s lived through such a disaster, I know the two articles referenced above can help provide insurance against extended pain.

Poll: Lunch spending goes down

In the most recent Yahoo! HotJobs poll, site visitors report that they are spending less on lunch each workday.

Q	Are you now spending less on your daily lunches at work than you did at the beginning of this year?
Yes	78%
No	22%
5178 Votes to date

Looks like another sign of the times.