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Is Your Job Busier During the Holidays?

SavvySugar — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0800

Now that Thanksgiving is almost here, it’s official - the holidays have begun. Whether you plan to take advantage of Black Friday deals and start your shopping now or you tend to wait until the last minute, your post-work schedule is bound to ramp up for the next several weeks.

But, what about your work life? Some industries - retail, for one! - get exponentially busier during the holidays, while others tend to slow down until after the New Year. Which category does your job fall into?

Sunday Confessional: She's Feeling Jealous

TresSugar — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:00:05 -0800

This week's anonymous confession comes from the TrèsSugar Community group Confession Booth. This confessor finds herself worried about her boyfriend's co-worker. She explains:

"Before we started dating my boyfriend slept with someone he still works with. He just recently told me this and it's driving me nuts!!!!!!"

Do you think this is a big deal?

Does Your Occupation Fit Your Personality?

SavvySugar — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:45:04 -0800

Chances are you’ve taken a personality test at some point in your life - a Myers-Briggs for fun, a Caliper or other employment test for a new job - but have you ever thought about how the results might impact your career choices?

Nancy Ancowitz, author of Self-Promotion For Introverts, recently wrote an article in the New York Times about how her introverted personality affected her career path. Ancowitz had always assumed her need to work alone and her aversion to large meetings were character flaws. But once she realized they were just aspects of her personality, she was able to make them work to her advantage and find a career that better suited her.

I definitely consider myself an introvert. I love being around people and I can turn on my social side when I need to, but I really do my best work and feel the most recharged when I’m alone. My job, happily, strikes the perfect balance for me. How about you? Does your role at work mesh with your personality? If you’re curious as to what your personality type is, check out this simplified Myers-Briggs test.

Photo courtesy of NBC

Overworked and Underpaid: 7 of the Most Stressful Jobs

SavvySugar — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:00:31 -0800

I quizzed you a couple weeks ago on Money magazine’s list of the least stressful jobs. Now CNN Money has compiled another list - this time of the most stressful and most underpaid jobs out there, according to their survey.

The results are based on median salary and the percentage of respondents that rated their jobs as stressful. Unfortunately, these positions sound a lot more like the jobs most of my friends and family have than the ones on the least stressful list did! To see a sampling of the most overworked and underpaid positions, read more.

Cool Job: Nina LaCour, Author

SavvySugar — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:00:27 -0700

Whether you love heading into work every day or dread the alarm each morning, hearing about people who love what they do is always inspiring. In our new Savvy series, Cool Jobs, we’ll talk to real women who have turned their passion into a very cool career.

Oakland native Nina LaCour always knew she wanted to be a writer, but over the past two years, she’s made that dream a reality. Nina’s debut young adult novel, Hold Still, was released by Dutton (a division of Penguin) last week, and she’s already signed on for a second novel.

Tell us what a typical day looks like for you.
I teach high school in the mornings, so my workday begins at 7:45. For a few hours, I sit around a big table with between 10 and 14 students per class and talk about books. When I get home I need a little while to wind down from teaching, so I use that time to answer interview questions for YA bloggers and get in touch with my agent or the people at Penguin about book stuff. They are all in New York, and I'm in California, so these calls have to take place early in my day.

No matter how often I do it, it takes me a little while to settle into writing. Usually I'll begin by reading over my newer scenes or notes. I also keep an ever-changing outline up on my wall, so I keep track of what I've written and what I need to write, and I'll cross scenes out if I decide that I'm taking a different direction. And then, finally, I start typing. I'm a slow writer, so on a good day I'll get one or two pages written. On a slow day I might just end up revising existing scenes or writing a bunch of notes, or working forever on one important paragraph.

To hear more about Nina's cool job, keep reading

Where Do Workers Receive the Most Vacation Days?

SavvySugar — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:30:41 -0700

Ah, vacation. There never seems to be enough time away from it all, but that's not necessarily the case for workers everywhere. In some places there's no pining for days off because they are plentiful. Wondering where they're most generous with days off? Take the quiz!

Take the quiz

Are You More Tech Savvy Than Your Boss?

GeekSugar — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:15:23 -0700

Have you found yourself in this situation? Your boss is either a bit of a technophobe or just doesn't understand how email/her BlackBerry/the office scanner works and asks for your help every time she turns on the device? One writer at Marie Claire confesses she has to help her boss with even the most mindless tech issues - and she's not alone. After swapping war stories, the writer and her friends doubled over with laughter from tales of bosses adding "www." to the front of email addresses, trying to use the computer's calculator function by tapping the numbers as if they were on an ATM screen, and the inability to silence a cell-phone ring.

It makes sense; many of our superiors rose through the ranks working in far less technical environments. (Can you imagine working without a computer!?) But it's still a strange feeling. As the writer says, "Aside from technology issues, I'm not used to teaching my boss something she doesn't know."

Have you had to deal with a similar situation? Do you have a funny story? Share it in the comments after taking the poll.

Have You Ever Had an Office Affair?

TresSugar — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:00:00 -0700

You don't have to be a late night comedian like David Letterman or Jimmy Kimmel to have an affair at work. Office romances are so prevalent these days that companies are asking in-office couples to sign "love contracts" to protect themselves and the company from lawsuits should something go wrong.

So how many people are finding love at work? According to a recent survey, 60 percent of employees in America have had an office relationship. That's up from 47 percent in 2003. Do you count among the people who have dipped their pens in the company ink?

Awkward! A Co-Worker Keeps Touching Me

TresSugar — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:00:00 -0700

Thanks to a reader with an issue (sorry, reader!), we have an awkward scenario requiring your advice. (Have some awkward tales of your own? Join our Awkward! group to share etiquette questions and stories with other readers.)

"I have a co-worker who I like except for one extremely annoying habit of hers: when she tries to get my attention, she pats me on the head. I'm not touchy-feely to begin with, and would jump if someone tapped my shoulder, so this is really too much. Plus, it almost feels like I'm being condescended to. Don't you pat babies and puppies on the head? I want to tell her without getting too defensive that I really wish she'd stop this and just email me before she comes over, instead of patting me on the damn head! What's the best way to do this?"

Do You Have Manic Mondays?

SavvySugar — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:14:13 -0700