The Work Buzz

Who invented the standard nine-to-five workday? He or she must have been a morning person because if I were setting the workday hours, I’d push it to start at 10 a.m. at the earliest. Why?

While I’d love to be the type of person who just jumps out of bed alert and perky every day, it just doesn’t work for me that way.  Take this morning:

When I heard my favorite DJ through my alarm at sunrise, I hit my snooze several times in an attempt to squeeze as much time out of my slumber as possible. This is my typical M.O. — not very good for someone who actually read an article yesterday about how to become a morning person.

But, despite my tendencies to linger in bed as long as possible, I have to say I am fairly punctual arriving to the office … most of the time.

Continue reading – Is there a reason you’re late … or is it just an excuse?

Two weeks ago I posted about a Gallup survey that asked workers whether or not their jobs are ideal. One trend that emerged from the survey highlighted young workers and their dissatisfaction with their jobs. Dissatisfaction might be misleading, but the young workers are less likely than their older colleagues to consider their jobs ideal. The connection to low pay is a likely factor, but another issue could factor into the equation, too.

Yet, a story that ran on NPR yesterday brings up another point: Young workers are concerned about work-life balance. The story explains that work-life balance is nothing new, but employers have historically associated the issue with working parents, not young newcomers. Continue reading – The changing face of the work-life balance

Last week we kicked off our contest, Talk to The Work Buzz! You submitted your great questions about interviews and we picked one to answer. Our winner is getting a copy of the book Career Building.

We like you. You like prizes. So we’re back with a new topic for the contest. This week we want you to submit your questions about accepting a job offer. Any issue that arises during the process of deciding whether or not to accept an offer is fair game.

Remember, we need your questions submitted to us in the comments section of this post by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday night. Just scroll down to the bottom and leave your question. Be sure to enter a valid e-mail address where we can reach you in case your question is chosen. Your e-mail will not be published, so don’t worry.

Also, here are the rules and regulations in case you have any questions.

 On Friday we’ll answer the winning question and notify the winner.

So talk to us and let us know what’s on your mind!

Oh, St. Patrick’s Day.

Each year you provide us with a day to pretend a lot of things. You let us pretend we’re Irish when we’re not. You let us pretend our livers are impenetrable to alcohol, but they’re not. You let us pretend we look good in tacky green clothing when most of us don’t. In many ways, St. Patrick’s Day, you allow us to revel in more fantasy than anything associated with the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus.

One item associated with St. Patrick’s Day that we should probably embrace is the “luck of the Irish.” Apparently no one can pinpoint the etymology of the phrase, and no one can agree whether or not said luck refers to true good luck or ultimately bad luck. For our sake, let’s go with the first reading, as everyone could use a little good luck these days — especially job seekers! Continue reading – Gettin’ lucky on your job search

It’s Friday, and that means we have a winner in the Talk to the Work Buzz! Contest.

This week’s topic was interviewing, and we had several readers submit excellent questions. (Thanks!) Alas, we could only pick one, and it came from Janet Jansen. Here’s what she asked:

“Is it appropriate to read from notes in an interview? For example, questions I would like to ask the prospective employer about the job and company.”

This question is excellent for a few reasons, and upon reading it, we realized we should’ve address it before. So here’s our chance. Continue reading – Talk to The Work Buzz Contest winning question: Interview notes

Few things unite co-workers like a good, old-fashioned office pool. Can you pick the date Ellen will have her baby? What about the baby’s sex and name? How many days in a row will Bob wear the same pants? How long can Fred go without checking his smart phone in a meeting? 

It seems workers will bet on everything and anything – even when a large pile of snow in the parking lot would melt and what co-workers’ cholesterol numbers would be.

Yet nothing causes quite the betting frenzy at work more than March Madness. Workers across the country are researching stats, crunching numbers and calling their ESPN-addicted cousins in order to fill out their March Madness brackets. Let’s look at the numbers.

A survey from Spherion found 45 percent of workers have participated in an office pool before, and 56 percent of those who have participated specifically took part in March Madness pools. And in 2009, a Microsoft estimated that 58 million people — many at work and on the clock — will fill out tournament brackets.

Consider the time used for watching the free streaming of all 64 games and the subsequent discussion of those games. During the 2009 NCAA Tournament, CBSsports.com reported that there were 7.52 million unique visitors to the NCAA March Madness on Demand video player, a 58 percent  increase over 2008 figures. Additionally, there were 8.6 million total hours of video and audio consumed, a 75 percent increase over 2008 figures. Experts predict the estimated cost of the lost productivity during March Madness is $1.8 billion.

But with the American work force increasing its productivity year after year, the time spent viewing video online or filling out your brackets might not be necessarily frowned upon by management. CBSsports.com’s “Boss Button” received 2.77 million clicks in 2009 compared to 2.5 million in 2008 — not quite on par the with staggering increases in traffic and viewed video.

Continue reading – Before you fill out that March Madness bracket…

They do it while walking — oh so slowly — down the sidewalk. They do it at the gym. They do it at the movies. They even do it in the bathroom.

They are using their smart phones. While some people are checking out Facebook, getting directions, reading the news or just plain addicted, many are still on the clock.

While smart phones have made it easier for workers to stay connected to the office, they have also made it more difficult to disconnect during personal time.

Continue reading – Workers tethered by the e-leash in some strange places

“Where exactly are these jobs you keep talking about?”

That is one of the questions we frequently receive here at The Work Buzz. And we do our best to point you in the right direction. Today the Bureau of Labor Statistics made locating these open positions a simpler task by releasing the current January Job Openings and Labor Turnover Report. Continue reading – Where are the jobs? Education and health services, that’s where.

Hello, everyone-

As our last post said, we’re holding a contest where we ask you to submit your questions based on that week’s topic. We’ll choose one person’s question to answer and then send him or her a copy of Career Building, which will bring you hours of joy for the rest of your life. It’s a contest that’s fun and informative — what more could you want?

This week’s topic is interviewing. We want to know what questions you have about interviewing. We’ll pick a unique question that we haven’t tackled before and that we think other job seekers or professionals are wondering about, too.

If you want to see a list of interview questions we’ve already answered over the history of The Work Buzz, look here.

Remember, for this week’s topic, submit your comments to this post by 11.59 p.m. CST. We’ll answer the question on Friday and notify the winner via e-mail to send him or her the book, so make sure you provide a valid e-mail addres to us. (Refer to the previous post to read the rules and regulations.)

So, readers, let’s hear your questions about interviews!