Saturday, March 7, 2009
Searching for New Books on the Subject...
Friday, March 6, 2009
Featured Article of the Day
MSNBC.comAmericans hate jobs more than ever
Americans hate their jobs more than ever before in the past 20 years, with fewer than half saying they are satisfied.
The trend is strongest among workers under the age of 25, less than 39 percent of whom are satisfied with their jobs.
Workers age 45 to 54 have the second lowest level of satisfaction (less than 45 percent), according a survey conducted by The Conference Board, a market information company that also puts out the Consumer Confidence Index and the Leading Economic Indicators.
Older people like their jobs more. Nearly half of all workers over 55 are satisfied with their employment situation.
This echoes January survey by CareerBuilder.com that more than four out of five U.S. workers do not have their dream jobs.
Overall, dissatisfaction has spread among all workers, regardless of age, income or residence. Twenty years ago, the first time the survey was conducted, 61 percent of all Americans said they were satisfied with their jobs, according to the representative survey of 5,000 U.S. households, said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's Consumer Research Center.
"Although a certain amount of dissatisfaction with one's job is to be expected, the breadth of dissatisfaction is somewhat unsettling, since it carries over from what attracts employees to a job to what keeps them motivated and productive on the job," Franco said.
Money rarely buys happiness but it can buy job satisfaction—people making under $15,000 per year reported the lowest satisfaction while those making more than $50,000 per year said they were the most satisfied.
People living in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania are the most disgruntled (less than 41 percent say they are satisfied with their current job), and people living in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico were most likely to whistle while they work (56 percent reported being satisfied).
The thing that bugged most workers the most about their jobs were bonus plans and promotion policies. Workload and potential for growth were rated poorly also.
But the majority of workers polled found their work and co-workers interesting and their commute satisfying.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17348695/
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Feature Article of the Day
Dear Annie: I hope you can give me some advice, because I feel like an idiot. I graduated from a good college, with honors, in June. Most of my classmates are already working at serious corporate jobs or are on their way to grad school. But I just can't seem to figure out what I want to do. I have several different interests, including music, psychology, and writing, but I'm not sure where these might lead (if anywhere). Meanwhile I need to get some kind of a job to start paying off my student loans. Do you, or your readers, have any suggestions on how I can choose a career? -- Wandering Boy
Dear Wandering: Well, first I'd recommend that you get hold of the 2005 edition of Richard Nelson Bolles' classic book, What Color Is Your Parachute? (Ten Speed Press, $17.95 in paperback). It just might spark some ideas that you'll find helpful. Meanwhile, here are a few points to ponder from a man who has dealt with many dissatisfied professionals in his career. Alan L. Sklover (http://www.ExecutiveLaw.com), a New York City attorney who has represented executives in all kinds of negotiations for decades, says that many people don't take the time when they were young to choose the appropriate career. "Many of our clients, especially those in their 40s and 50s, have come to question the career decisions they made" when they were your age, Sklover says. "Most often, they regret not having taken the time to get a wider exposure to the working world before deciding on a chosen field."
The fact that you have several interests is a good thing, in his view. "Apply for every job you can find that is related to any of your interests. Always write down what you like and dislike about the jobs you do, and what you learn about yourself from them," he says. "Sooner or later you'll develop a sense of direction -- and maybe even a passion about what you do for a living."
Sklover calls his approach the Three Exes: Exposure, experience, and excitement. "Don't be afraid to take any job that interests you," he says. "You're not locked in for life. If there's one time you're supposed to take chances, it's while you're younger and relatively free of responsibilities. After that, trying something new takes courage that very few have." Exposure to a wide range of companies and roles can help you find where you belong -- and will make you a more marketable commodity later on too. Likewise, Sklover recommends that, once you find a company or an industry that suits you, try to get "the most varied experience possible within it. Practical skills, once learned, aren't forgotten. Every great building is built one brick at a time." As for the third "ex," excitement, it comes when you've caught a glimpse of work that you can pursue with passion.
Don't rush this process, Sklover says: "If you give yourself the time and opportunity to explore your options, you'll far surpass those classmates of yours who are, from the very beginning of their careers, too consumed with climbing step by step to see the sky over their heads."
Food for thought, no? Readers, what say you? How did you choose a career -- and what, if anything would you do differently if you had the chance to start over?
On another topic altogether, many thanks to those of you who have sent suggestions for the reader who signed herself Butterball in the recent article, "Is Your Job Making You Fat?" and was worried about gaining weight at her desk job. "A sedentary job, along with just getting older, will eventually slow down your metabolism," warns Roger K. " So don't keep junk food in the house. If you haven't got any Cheez Doodles, you can't eat any Cheez Doodles. Right?" Several readers said they make working out for 20 or 30 minutes a day a priority and, in the words of one, "treat it like a regular appointment that you keep as you would any other appointment." Adds JC: "Work out first thing in the morning. I hate getting up early to do it, but I came to the realization that this was the only way it was going to happen, since once I got to the office, I was unable to predict the rest of my day." Many of you strongly recommend the buddy system. "If you have someone to work out with, it's not only more fun, but it keeps you accountable," notes Mary Grace. "Someone will notice and give you a hard time if you don't show up. I have to confess that there are days when the thought of a talking-to from my 'gym buddy' is the only thing that keeps me motivated, and I'm pretty sure she feels the same way." I hear that! Thanks, all!
(Resource from CNNMoney.com - http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/13/news/economy/annie/fortune_annie091305/index.htm)
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