Inside an elite squad of computer technicians. Bill Gates might be offended if you called him a geek, but 31-year-old Robert Stephens would not. Though Gates put the word into the everyday lexicon, Stephens has truly elevated the “geek” to cool status. Stephens is much more than a computer guy. He bills himself as “Chief [...]

On December 11, 1999, the Maranatha Christian Journal reported “South Dakota Pastor to Go on Trial for Murder.” Rev. William Guthrie, former pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, was jailed without bond and charged with the first-degree murder of his wife, Sharon Guthrie. She had been found dead in the bathtub of their home. An [...]

American workers look up to these pioneers. America loves heroes. Whether it’s Benjamin Franklin, Christopher Columbus, or Amelia Earhart, these unconventional people achieved extraordinary feats and in the process changed the course of history and our lives. What about heroes in the business world? Though none have supernatural powers, these modern heroes have reached the [...]

You may want to avoid leadership roles. The phone rings at your desk. On the line is the boss and she wants to talk. There’s no problem; rather, she’s offering you a promotion, a management position. While for some this is the dream scenario, for others such a situation creates a dilemma. Do you accept [...]

Protect yourself from the cutback curse. By now, even a successful career professional may pose an internal question: Am I layoff-proof? Recently, economic woes prompted a 25 percent increase in unemployment insurance claims in the first quarter, with 4,500 major layoff announcements resulting in the loss of nearly 545,000 jobs. While no one is bulletproof, [...]

How to handle tough employee terminations No supervisor welcomes firing an employee, but with the proper planning and implementation it can be accomplished somewhat painlessly. The keys to firing someone legally and justly are preparation, an understanding of company policy, and knowledge of common pitfalls. Preparing For The Meeting Once the decision has been finalized [...]

After slaving for weeks over a marketing report, you’re dying to take a week off. But you know that your department head will not look fondly on your time-off request. What do you do? Americans are working longer and harder than ever but seem to be taking less time off. According to a study by [...]

Are unmarried workers fighting an uphill battle? While interviewing for a senior marketing executive job, Bradford Agry encountered a subtle yet common form of discrimination: one that targets unmarried people. In the first five minutes of the interview, a married partner in the firm asked Agry if the ring on his left hand was a [...]

————— Christian Edvardsen radiates confidence and hope. He loves his job as product development and implementation coordinator for USATODAY.com in Arlington, VA. Meanwhile, Christian and his partner, Ben, are planning their commitment ceremony in June. Edvardsen’s co-workers are part of the festivities. “My boss is coming. In fact, five people from work will be there,” [...]

Getting dressed for work in the morning has become confusing enough to make you want to jump back into bed, still wearing your pajamas. For the past several years, casual dress has been the “in” look; experts actually touted the death of the suit in corporate America. Now, with the crash of the dot-com empire, [...]