thecareerbeat.com Blog

Job counseling for the holidays

See below for information about how to get some call-in career counseling in the next week. It’s an annual holiday treat from Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Who is it for? It is for your readers, viewers, listeners; anyone who is looking for a job, whether they are unemployed, wanting to switch jobs or re-entering the job market after a long absence.

When will it be held? December 29 and 30, 9am – 5pm CST How can job seekers reach a counselor? Call 312-332-5790

Who is offering it? Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., the nation’s original outplacement company, providing job search and employment transition counseling since the early 1960s. Those who lose their jobs are sent to Challenger by their former employers. The two-day Call-In is the only time that anyone can get help from the firm’s professional counselors.

Also for the holidays: If you’re looking for some job-related 2009 resolution ideas, check out this article.

Merry Christmas!

Career lessons from 2008’s stars

What do President-elect Barack Obama, Olympic swimmer Dara Torres, and MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow have in common?

They gave us good examples of how to advance our careers in the new year. You can read more about it in “Career Do’s and Don’ts from 2008.”

The article has become a fun annual tradition for me at Yahoo! HotJobs, and I received more examples/lessons than I could use in the article. Here’s a great one from my neighbor Pat Mayfield, who is president of Pat Mayfield Consulting in San Francisco.

The lesson: “Don’t be at the airport when your ship comes in. When unexpected and unplanned opportunities appear, quickly react and take the detour. Lost opportunities can rarely be recovered.”

The example, of course, is Tina Fey stepping in to impersonate Gov. Sarah Palin on “Saturday Night Live” after she was tapped to be McCain’s running mate. Those detours from Fey’s “30 Rock” show did more than her Emmys to advance her career this year.

Cyber Monday surprise

Check out the results of this poll from Yahoo! HotJobs: More than half of employees say they didn’t use a work computer to make any personal purchases in the past year. I didn’t think such a high percentage of people would refrain the temptation.

Q	Have you made a personal, online purchase using your work computer this year?
Yes	41%
No	59%
3387 Votes to date