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  Wednesday, 3 Oct 2012 | 9:37 AM ET

How to Answer Those Way Too Personal Questions

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Photo: Biddiboo | Riser | Getty Images

What should you do when the question is too personal?

"What kind of underwear do you wear?" Jerry Seinfeld asks Larry David, his friend and co-creator of the TV show, "Seinfeld."

You expect Larry David to answerhe and Seinfeld are goofing around .

"Briefs," says Larry David. "I couldn't make the transition."

But when President Bill Clinton was asked the same question, "boxers or briefs?" back in 1994, you expect him to decline. Unfortunately, he responds.

» Read More
  Thursday, 27 Sep 2012 | 7:20 AM ET

Jobs That Are Overrated—And Those That Get No Respect!

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It may seem glamorous to be a slick advertising executive like Jon Hamm on the TV show “Mad Men” or like Michael Douglas’s power broker character in the movie “Wall Street.”

Wavebreakmedia | Agency Collection | Getty Images
Surgeons

But times change and the professions that once seemed alluring may not be so glamorous now.

Job listing and advice site CareerCast.com has come out with their annual list of the most overrated jobs — and the most underrated jobs.

We’ve all been to a restaurant we’d deem “overrated” or met that guy in the office we’d call overrated. So what makes a job overrated?

»Read more
  Wednesday, 19 Sep 2012 | 12:37 PM ET

Can Your Employees Trust You?

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Nick Dolding | Digital Vision | Getty Images

You and I make promises every day. "I'll call you by 5 pm," you say, or, "I'll get you the info by Friday."

But then we get sidetracked.

That's a broken promise.

I almost blew a major deal recently due to a broken promise.

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  Friday, 7 Sep 2012 | 3:23 PM ET

World's Best Internship—Interviewing Porn Stars

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Hey there. Feeling lonely in your dorm room? Looking to ditch your workplace virginity?

Source: pornhub.com

Well, it’s your lucky day, son. Free porn video-sharing site PornHub.com is looking for an intern.

The official ad is full of every dirty little porn pun you can think of:

“Pornhub.com is officially on the hunt — to snatch up a brand spanking new intern to do all our dirty work for us,” Pornhub says on its website.

Oh yeah, they go there.

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  Thursday, 6 Sep 2012 | 11:16 AM ET

Career Skills: How Are You at Making Decisions?

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Your next decision.

My wife and I were worried. "Which way do you think we should go?" she asked. I had no idea.

Four hours into a mountain hike in Nova Scotia that was steeper and longer than we'd expected, we were low on water, low on energy, and apparently lost.

Plus there were bears.

We hadn't actually seen the bears, but the entrance sign had warned, "If you see a bear, don't run. Act big."

That's the sort of advice you can apply to work: maybe you've got a tough boss, or a difficult client, or an uncomfortable conversation. Ok. Don't run. Act big.

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  Thursday, 30 Aug 2012 | 2:21 PM ET

Why Your Doctor Is Such an Insensitive Jerk

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The No. 1 reason doctors cite for becoming doctors is the“desire to help people.” By that measure, theyshould be some of the sweetest people on the planet and yet,jerk-ism runs rampant in the medical profession.

Jupiter Images | Comstock Images | Getty Images

“There is an epidemic of condescending, difficult,foul-tempered doctors, and you the patient are the one whosuffers!” according to “Ask anMD .”

Ever wonder why that is?

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  Tuesday, 28 Aug 2012 | 2:50 PM ET

Employees Behaving Badly: Vampires, Terrorists and Gossips

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Public relations executive Mario Almonte once had anemployee who was constantly taking time off.

WB Digital | OJO Images | Getty Images

“Frequently, he would take two and three hourlunches; sometimes he would be ‘working fromhome;’ sometimes, he needed a few days off to help makefuneral arrangements for a family member,”Almonte recalls. “I think he killed offevery member of his family within a year's time!”

We’ve all worked with someone like this —someone who is constantly late or leaves early, takes an houror two off in the middle of the day, passes off work toco-workers, takes sick days even when they’re not— they’ve got every excuse in the book. Inextreme cases, there’s stealing from the company.

Most of this bad behavior is accompanied by negativity— the person who constantly gossips at the watercooler,fights with co-workers and just can’t seem to be happyabout anything, even when the boss is trying to do somethingnice.

Those are what the pros call “activelydisengaged” employees — though there are manyother names for them.

“Gallup calls them ‘vampires’ becausethey’re the people sucking the lifeblood out of themanager!” said Kevin Sheridan, senior vice president ofHR Optimization atAvatar HRSolutions and author of the book “Building aMagnetic Culture .” “We call themthe ‘watercooler malcontents.’”

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  Wednesday, 15 Aug 2012 | 8:04 AM ET

Gahhhh! What Stresses People Out the Most at Work

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Stressed out at work? Take a number.

Photo: Rtimages | Getty Images

Nearly three-fourths (73 percent) of American workers are stressed out by at least one thing at work, according to Everest College ’s 2012 Work Stress Survey conducted by Harris Interactive.

You know what gets on people’s last nerve the most?

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  Friday, 10 Aug 2012 | 3:37 PM ET

A Work Email Blackout? Par-ty! Par-ty!

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There’s a bit of controversy brewing over employeesbeing given company-issued mobile devices and expected tocheck email after-hours and whether or not it constitutesovertime. Volkswagen got around it with some of its unionemployees by shutting off their company email half an hourafter their shift ends and turning it on only half an hourbefore their shift starts the next day.

Hans Neleman | Image Bank | Getty Images

If you’ve ever been involved in a work email outage,you know that it generally involves a lot of panic andprofanity-laced tirades. You can hear the desperation in theemails that start: “My BB is down. Please email mygmail!!!!!”

So, when we put it to readers: “What would yourreaction be if your company shut off your emailafter-hours?” with the response choices a) panic, b)relief, c) throw a party, d) not sure, we were sure thatpanic would be the far and away leader, with a modest showingfrom relief. We were sure that most people would react likeGinaVergel , who replied: “I would probablyfreak out!”

But you might be surprised by the results.

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  Friday, 10 Aug 2012 | 12:00 AM ET

Escape the Idiots! Top 25 Companies for Work-Life Balance

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Are there more idiots on your commute than usual? Does itseem like everyone in your life needs an exorcism? Are youdrinking more?

Blasius Erlinger | The Image Bank | Getty Images

These are just a few of thesigns thatyour work-life balance may be off .

Remember when your high school girlfriend said —“It’s not you, it’s me?” Yeah,actually, it IS you.

But don’t sweat it — job siteGlassdoor.com is out with their annual list ofthe Top 25 Companies for Work-Life Balance.

» Read More

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Executive Careers will help you make the right moves in your professional life. With insight on the topical issues in the executive work place, you will learn how to achieve your career and financial goals.