Share your tips for success!

Now, tell us in the comments section below what you think it takes to be highly productive in today’s competitive workplace. Share tips and ideas for being more productive and less stressed – we want to hear your thoughts! You can tweet your answer too – just use the #CareerBG hashtag if you do!

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Discrimination comes in many forms including, gender, race, sexual orientation, age, disability, weight, and even for beauty. Click below any/all of the forms of discrimination you’ve experienced.

Then, be sure to join us this Friday, April 15 at 1:00 PM ET on “Career Reality TV” for a special episode on discrimination. I’ll be speaking to lawyer and discrimination expert, Donna Ballman, who will help us understand what’s really grounds for a discrimination case. We’ll learn why hiring IS discrimination and what you can do to minimize what you get discriminated against for.

Don’t miss it!

Cast your vote and then share your reason why in the comments below! You can tweet your answer too – just use the #CareerBG hashtag if you do!

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So, we thought we’d ask the following…

Cast your vote and then share your reason why in the comments below! You can tweet your answer too – just use the #CareerBG hashtag if you do!

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For purposes of this poll, we define career as working in a specific field of interest or skill set. Changing careers would mean shifting away from what you are doing into a new field or skill set. For example, if you worked for the same company for 15 years, but held 4 very different roles during that time, your number would be 4.

If you want, post your choice on Twitter after voting and use the #CareerBG hashtag.

So, we ask you:

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How many of you think we should renew these benefits? Or, do you think we’ve spent enough and need to start spending in other areas?  To provide some perspective:

1. The current population of America is 310,700,000. (According to Wikipedia.org.)
2. There’s an estimated 15,121,951 Americans who are currently unemployed.
3. An estimated 6.2M of those unemployed have been without work for 27+ weeks.

Based on those statistics, as well as your own personal observations, what do you think? Should we continue to extend unemployment? If not, what else can we do to help these individuals find work? I invite you to cast your vote and then post your comments below.

Photo credit: Shutterstock

I read an interesting piece by fellow career blogger,P enelope Trunk this week over at BNET. It’s called, “Why Your Career Needs Plastic Surgery – Literally.” In it, Trunk provides the evidence that supports the decision to have some work done to create a younger, better looking version of yourself as a way to get more job offers, money, promotions and professional power. Here are just a few of the facts she provides:

• Fat women earn less than slender women.
• Tall men earn more per inch than shorter men.
• Former cheerleaders are so much more successful than other demographics that there are recruiting agencies that specialize in cheerleaders.

(Note to self: I need to call the cheerleader headhunters if running CAREEREALISM.com doesn’t work out. Go West High Blue Knights!)

My question to all of you is this: If money was no object, would you have plastic surgery if it meant a better professional future? Vote here and then post your comments. I want to hear your thoughts on the subject.

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FACT: Job search duration varies a lot. Why? Well, for starters, a job seeker’s knowledge with respect to the most effective way to look for a job (i.e. ability to leverage social media and other networking techniques, proper resume design, effective interviewing skills, etc.) impacts how long they look. Then, factor in things like salary requirements, industry, location, skills, education-level, experience-level, and of course, actual job openings, and you start to see how a job search can take a lot longer than a person plans on.

So, my question to all of you is this:

Last week, a reader of our Twitter Advice Project asked if it was appropriate to send a holiday card to a potential employer. You can see the TAP question and discussion amongst the experts here.

However, it got me wondering what employees think in general about giving a boss a gift. Then, as if they read my mind, CBSMoneyWatch.com send me this HILARIOUS post by a comedian, Andy Borowitz, on what to give a boss for the holidays to avoid getting laid-off. His, ‘give the gift of guilt’ option had me rolling with laughter.

All that said, my question is simple readers…

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Dear Experts,

A successful web development company I have recently applied to stood me up TWO times for a scheduled phone interview. I have spent 2 hours studying their company and their services and an additional 2 hours waiting for them to call me, but the phone never rang. I found their listing through Craigslist.

The first time this happened, they did not even apologize. I wrote them an e-mail 10 minutes after the scheduled interview to make sure they had my correct phone number. They wrote back telling me that the hiring manager had left me a voicemail earlier that day, BUT I did not get any voice messages at all! Then, we rescheduled. However, for our SECOND attempt at a phone interview, which was today, they stood me up again, and I guess the hiring manager called me an hour and a half after the scheduled appointment and finally left a voice message. In the voice message, he apologized for missing the appointment but was unable to offer a reason why.

I find that this unprofessional behavior makes me not want to work for them anymore. However, I also find myself bewildered at what to make of this, the best thing for me to do, and what this unprofessional behavior says about their company. Any thoughts and advice?

If you want to know what the experts advised, CLICK HERE.

More importantly…what would you do?

VOTE HERE:

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