Many people own a BlackBerry, iPhone or other mobile device that allows them to check email, surf the web, check email and update their status on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter from virtually anywhere. Of course that anywhere could be the car, the airport or even while sitting in the audience when you’re giving a speech.

Using these devices all the time is a new, yet increasing, trend – I remember sitting next to a woman at an awards dinner that ignored everyone else at the dinner because she couldn’t put her BlackBerry down. It’s no wonder that these devices are referred to as “CrackBerries” because some folks simply can’t resist checking them every couple minutes.  Read more... (944 words, 20 images, estimated 3:47 mins reading time)

A few weeks back, I listed out 25 Questions that are illegal to ask during a job interview. This generated a lot of buzz and I had several readers contact me regarding legal ways to get the information they’re seeking. While I don’t condone discrimination during an interview, I do believe that a company has the right to know if someone they’re about to hire will be able to perform the necessary job duties. So here are 20 questions that you can ask to find out if the candidate is a good fit for the job.
Note: these questions are legal assuming they are related to the job.  Read more... (646 words, 20 images, estimated 2:35 mins reading time)

I’ve noticed a trend lately that has started to bother me – too many people telling us that there’s something wrong with us. I don’t know about you but I’m getting tired of it. Everywhere I turn, I see ads or people trying to get me to go along with their scheme to correct the problems in my life. And it’s everywhere from TV and radio to magazines & newspapers to even social media.

I have no problem with people out there trying to make an honest living. But it just seems like there are a lot of people out there with solutions looking for others to push their solutions on – and these people may not even be in need of these solutions.  Read more... (2329 words, 20 images, estimated 9:19 mins reading time)

If you’ve ever been to a business networking event, you’ve probably been told that starting a conversation is the hardest part. This tends to be true for neophyte networkers – walking up to someone new and introducing yourself can be quite challenging. However, when you become an experienced networker, you may sometimes find that exiting a conversation is much more difficult than starting one.

 Read more... (796 words, 20 images, estimated 3:11 mins reading time)

So you’re sitting there in your interview and things are going well. But then you’re asked a common question, one that you know the answer to – why are you leaving your current job (or why did you leave your last job). But how do you answer it? Truthfully? What they want to hear?

For some people, why they left their last job is pretty straightforward while for others, it’s a more sensitive issue. In either case, you want to be careful as to how you answer it. Saying you hated your job raises issues about how good an employee you are. Complaining about the commute and lack of family time may make your potential employer wonder if you’ll be able to put in the extra time when needed.  Read more... (482 words, 20 images, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

Just wanted to invite you to check out a few of the blog carnivals that were kind enough to host some of my posts this past week. Here they are:

The Gaming My Blog Carnival has some interesting posts on video gaming – one of my true addictions.

The Twitter Buzz Carnival has some excellent tips for using the popular social media site.

The Carnival of Positive Thinking has some great posts to ensure you stay positive.

Xamuel.com Blog Carnival – Has a great list of posts on a variety of topics.

Interviewers and interviewees alike are often unaware that certain questions asked during a job interview are considered illegal questions. Now by “illegal”, it doesn’t mean that someone will get arrested for asking such a question, but it does mean that the interviewee is not required to answer it to be considered for the job. The reason why these questions are considered illegal is to protect candidates from being discriminated against when applying for a job. These questions were made illegal as part of the Americans with Disability Act. In this article, we’ll cover what the illegal questions are, why they’re asked and how to respond.  Read more... (860 words, 20 images, estimated 3:26 mins reading time)