Employee volunteers can make a difference. Employees want to impact more than just the bottom line; they want to know if their hard work is making a difference in customers’ lives. More and more people are also looking to make an impact in the world around them–and companies are giving them the chance to do [...]

Political apathy on America’s college campuses. For 22-year-old Katherine Bishop, it’s politics as usual. After graduating from James Madison University in May, the speech communication major took on her current job as deputy press secretary for Mike Easley, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate from North Carolina. “I couldn’t pass up this opportunity,” she said. “I wanted [...]

Get tough and get what you deserve. In today’s tough economy, you have to be a strong negotiator to get what you want. Don’t shy away from asking your boss for that raise, especially if you’ve proven your worth to the company. Bargain for that plum assignment if you can (and will) get the job [...]

Helpful hints for out-of-workers everywhere. Now that you’re unemployed, it stings to remember why they tell you to store three to six months’ salary in a savings account for a rainy day. And now it’s pouring. But how many working people can afford to save anything, much less a half-year’s pay? “The concept of having [...]

Buoyed by the success of U.S. military strategies and systems used during the Iraqi conflict, the Pentagon is even more intent on pursuing the next generation of weapon and homeland-security-defense systems. Many, such as those that allow remote and secure communications systems to collect, interpret and send relevant information to proper channels, require advanced communications [...]

There’s something comforting and familiar about Casper haunting the Saturday morning airwaves. But there’s nothing comforting about the ghosts of your former workplace. Manifesting themselves as feelings of inadequacy, layoff threats or even fear of physical violence, ignored phantoms from your past are affecting you, whether you know it or not. Physical Evidence As we [...]

You cannot put an age limit on career transition. As the U.S. population grays, more Americans in their 50s are changing careers. After spending a decade or two working in the same field, many people are retiring early from one career–only to embark on another. The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), a non-profit dedicated [...]

Although we’ve all heard about corporate downsizing and the impact that’s had on the work force, far less has been written about the changes that are the result of individuals who are rejecting the old ideas about working for someone else. Writer Peter Mayle explains his own move into self-employment by saying, “I would rather [...]

Writer Peter Mayle explains his own move into self-employment by saying, “I would rather live precariously in my own office than comfortably in someone else’s.” It’s a notion that’s catching on with an estimated 40 million of us who already are working on our own. Here are some basics for anyone wishing to start down [...]

When Jim, a former engineer, decided to start his own business he wanted it to center around his passion for automobiles. He had always been interested in restoring old cars, but hadn’t found the time to do so since high school when he spent months happily restoring the old Dodge he inherited from his grandfather. [...]