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Don’t Get Thrown for a Loop

While some interview questions are easy to answer, others can make or break you. Here are some tips for getting through the more difficult (and sometimes bizarre) ones.

Tell Me a Story.

Huh? Before you launch into Alice in Wonderland, find out what kind of story the interviewer wants to hear. Asking for clarification shows you are thoughtful and won’t go on wild goose chases in the office if difficult projects aren’t spelled out for you in advance.
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Thanks, But No Thanks

In today’s job market, it seems ludicrous to talk about turning down a job offer. Everyone should be so lucky as to even get an offer. But you need to stop and think before you jump out of desperation into a situation that is not good for you. Even though it may be uncomfortable, there are times when you have to say, “Thanks, but no thanks.”

Great News: You’ve Got an Offer

George was laid off from his job in June. After four months of rejection, he finally got an offer. He was excited. Or was he?
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Life after layoffs

Longtime Longaberger employees face finding jobs, furthering education or training in wake of latest reduction in work force

In the past week, Charlene McNerny has found herself in unfamiliar territory.

After more than six years of working at Longaberger Co., McNerny suddenly became part of the unemployment pool after the company slashed 360 jobs Monday.
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Job market brightens for managers, execs5

The job market for unemployed managers and executives has its best showing since 2001. Job-seeking managers and executives found positions faster. The amount of time it took to win new positions dropped 5 percent to 3.16 months, the lowest level since 2001.

The report also showed that the percentage of managers and executives winning equivalent or better salaries rose 5.8 points from 85.8 percent in the fourth quarter to 91.6 percent in the first quarter, the highest percentage since 2000.

“All of this is good news for job seekers, of course, but it is too early to tell if it is a lasting trend,” John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement.
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Rising demand for executives to mean more money

With demand for corporate executives on the rise, it will take more money to get high-ranking employees to switch jobs this year, according to a report released Monday.

In 2004, demand for executives increased by 12 percent, according to employment search firms surveyed by ExecuNet, a Norwalk, Conn.-based provider of services for executives and executive recruiters.

The rise marks the first increase in demand for executives in several years. In 2003, search assignments for executives dropped 4 percent, following a 20 percent decline in 2002 and a 17 percent decline in 2001.
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American work force going gray at an exponential pace

Russ Creason, 84, goes to work every day because he loves it and can’t imagine not working.

Ken Moberg, 61, retired after 30 years at one company - and then created a thriving business from a sidelight interest. Donald Long, 78, and Evelyn Merchant, 67, are desperately hunting for jobs so they can pay their bills, which have mounted since they lost work.

For reasons both self-fulfilling and financial, older workers are a fast-growing presence in the labor force.
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One job to another: how to pursue a move, keep boss happy

If statistics are true, more than half of U.S. employees dread dragging themselves out of bed each morning and making their way to work.

And more than a few of these unhappy workers make a resolution each new year to improve their career, which often means looking for a new job.

Millions of these job seekers conduct their search while gainfully employed. The key is to keep the search discreet while maintaining job performance.
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Don’t skip online resources in job search

Q: I’ve been job hunting the old-fashioned way but am curious: Should I put my resume on all those online career sites, given the millions already posted there?

A: Absolutely. If you’re like most of us, a new job is elusive quarry best tracked with every possible bow in your quiver. There’s no good reason to skip an online resource that won’t cost you a penny and could even end up getting your resume onto the computer of a good recruiter.
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Find and land best job for you

Find and land best job for you It’s about passion and finding a company that’s a good fit.

There should have been a class about this stuff.
There are so many etiquette rules and communication tips when it comes to job interviews, it’s nearly impossible for the novice applicant — and even many veterans — to know them all.

A growing number of people in the Rock River Valley are dusting off resumes as the region’s hiring outlook posts its most positive numbers in six years. Of companies surveyed by Manpower Inc. in a quarterly employment checkup, 43 percent expect to hire in the second quarter. Only 3 percent expect layoffs.
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Surviving layoffs now a job skill

Ginny Mulloy started at Kaiser Steel when she was just a kid, figuring she’d be set for life.

She put in 28 years at the massive Fontana mill, helping plan how to get its steel to customers nationwide. The plant employed thousands: her friends, her relatives, her whole community. For decades, its furnaces had been the economic engine that powered the town.

When the plant closed and she got a layoff notice on New Year’s Eve in 1983, that engine ground to a jarring halt. Like thousands of workers, Mulloy found her entire world knocked askew.
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