In her new book “What Your Body Says,” Sharon Saylor writes, “The most influential part of communication is your nonverbal. Your nonverbal can actually destroy or produce the results you want, such as inspiring employees to do better work, calming angry customers, creating fans in the marketplace and closing sales.” And according to a new CareerBuilder survey , your body language can also hurt your chances of landing a… Read the rest

If you walk around your office or factory this morning, you probably could point out the perverts, mean idiots and potential abusers in your midst. The workplace jerks are rarely kept hidden. Often times, even the people in human resources know Bob has a porno problem, or Sue starts cursing and throwing things when a project fails. Why then is it so difficult to rid the work environment of… Read the rest

The job market is still tight, but there are some recent signs of life. Some companies are beginning to hire , and many of you are ready to pounce. You’ve been waiting for your first chance to get the hell out of where you are now; or you just want to land any job after being unemployed for months. This creates a volatile situation. Desperation=Dumb sometimes. You finally get… Read the rest

This week we are attending the annual conference of the Society of Human Resources – the Lollapalooza of HR, if you will. We’re hitting the sessions to learn the inside scoop about the employer side of recruitment and employee engagement and pass them on to you, the job seeker. If you’re on Twitter , you can see the latest if you follow #shrm10 or #cbshrm10. Here are some of… Read the rest

That uptight, serious looking guy on the unemployment line this week may be General Stanley McChrystal . Word is, the President may have to can him because he did the one thing you’re not supposed to do — he and his underlings dogged the big bosses. It’s never a good idea to say anything negative about the boss unless it’s to the boss’ face; and even then you’re taking… Read the rest

There’s that moment at the end of a job interview when the hiring manager asks: “Do you have any questions?” Alas, many job seekers go blank at this point. I’ve done that too. You’re nervous, or just exhausted from a day of interviews, and suddenly you can’t think of one question. What do you do? Do you really need to come up with something? I’ve been getting this question… Read the rest

Thank you Dad for: Your love of words and books. Believing in the craft of writing and photography. Walking through your own growth and learning despite the pain. The way you get excited about a fresh issue of The New Yorker read in front of a warm fire. Spending hours, and years, picking up cans, bottles and newspapers so they can be recycled. Your love of grammar. Believing that… Read the rest

Since the beginning of time, job seekers have been faced with this dilemma – hiring managers want to know how much you make and you don’t want to tell them. Why? Because we all know the employer doesn’t want to give you a penny more than they have to in salary, and if you tell them what you make they’re probably going to give you a slight bump over… Read the rest

When you got cut from your high school chess team, you asked your mom if you could transfer schools. When you thought that you and that awesome guy were more than just friends — and thought wrong, you spent the next three days in your pajamas. When you went on an awesome interview, but the job went to another candidate, you vowed to learn the pots and pans and… Read the rest

Yes, it’s a tough economy. Yes, there are tons of people for every job. Yes, you’re going to be looking for a gig for a while. Yes. Yes. Yes. But that doesn’t mean employers can treat you like crap during the interview process. Many hiring managers feel they’re in the driver’s seat when it comes to having their pick of great job candidates, and that can spell doom for… Read the rest