Homeowners, local chambers of commerce, and town planners alike all have some assumptions about Walmart. It’s often assumed that when a new Walmart opens in town, it’ll kill small businesses and may even hurt the local real …
Careers & Workplace
The Skills Gap Myth: Why Companies Can’t Find Good People
Last week’s disappointing unemployment report has refocused attention on the question of why, despite modest signs of economic recovery in recent months, American companies aren’t hiring.
Make Office Politics Work for You
You may try to avoid it, but the reality is that office politics is how power is managed in many organizations. Here are three ways you can navigate the system, even if you object to it:
Business Lunch Etiquette: 8 Rules
Amid technology overload, face-to-face interactions are even more important. Follow these rules to make sure lunch meetings are both fun and productive.
Insult to Injury: Rise in People with Student Loan Debt—and No College Degree
It’s bad enough to graduate from college with a mountain of student loans in a world where the prospects of landing a good job are terrible. But at least grads have something that should help their careers in the short- and …
Find Your Willpower
Mustering willpower is a struggle for almost everyone — and it’s getting harder. Today, more distractions make it difficult to focus on your goals. To keep yourself on track, try the following:
How to Make Recruiters Work for You
A call from a recruiter is more likely to be for their gain than yours. Still, that call could be the springboard for your next jump up the career ladder.
Sandwich Generation: Old Story, New Problem
Boomers were the first to struggle en masse with both the financial needs of kids in college and retired parents outliving their nest egg. Now, the kids may be out of college—but moved back home. Meanwhile, mom or dad has not …
Hire for Passion, Not Just Talent
People are more creative when they feel passionate about their work. Whether they are driven by interest, enjoyment, satisfaction, or a sense of personal challenge, they are more likely to take risks, look for multiple solutions to a problem, and seek out the best one rather than the easiest. These are the people you want on your team. …
Buffett’s New Message: Damn the Deal, Keep Work and Life in Balance
It must be great to be Warren Buffett, and not just for the money and influence. Recent court testimony in the insider-trading trial of former Goldman Sachs director Rajat K. Gupta elicited this gem: while negotiating a $5 billion investment in Goldman at the height of the financial crisis—an investment that would shore up the bank’s …
How to Be Happier at Work: 3 Tips
Working at a start-up can be stressful. Just ask Chade-Meng Tan, who as Google’s 107th employee, experienced the company back when it was a start-up instead of the behemoth it is today.
Tan was an engineer, and engineers at …
Use Social Media to Boost Your Job Search
More and more people are finding jobs via Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites. These media aren’t changing how we look for jobs, they are simply rebooting the traditional habits of successful job hunters and making them easier. To boost your job search: