human resources! career advice! cats! of course!

Punk Rock HR Question #2: I Want Both Recognition & Reward

By Laurie on August 14th in Human Resources

Dear Laurie, I finished my MBA at University of Phoenix, and I spoke to my Manager about a promotion & salary increase to match my new degree. It turns out that my company doesn’t have a policy that gives me a better title or more money when I complete my graduate degree. My Manager talked [...]

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50 Funniest Short Job Descriptions Ever (*from Dilbert's Blog)

By Laurie on August 13th in Human Resources

50 Funniest Short Job Descriptions Ever Over on the Dilbert Blog, Scott Adams gave his readers an assignment:

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Facebook

By Laurie on August 13th in Human Resources

I’m on Facebook. I don’t know why, really, but it seems like all of the cool kids are doing it. Jack Vinson is giving me tips on how to be all hip & stuff. I’m like a lemur. Next up, I’ll be smoking cigarettes behind the high school and sneaking sips of

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Leadership 101: Foolish Consistency

By Laurie on August 12th in Human Resources

I’m not afraid of leaders who change their minds. A flexible leadership style demonstrates applied learning, adaptability, and a willingness to change; however, I am afraid of leaders who change their minds for the wrong reasons. [Dick Cheney, 1994] I’m also afraid of leaders who make incorrect decisions and won’t turn back. Pride and arrogance [...]

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Is This Man Cheating on His Wife?

By Laurie on August 10th in Human Resources

When you spend ten hours each day with the same people, you will cross some boundaries. I saw this every day in my work as a Human Resources professional. There is a phenomenon in the workforce called The Office Wife — it’s where a man comes to work and spills his emotional soul to a [...]

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Sexual Harassment: What Do I Tell A Prospective Employer?

By Laurie on August 10th in Human Resources

Dear Laurie & Kate, Last spring I worked for a guy who basically was starting his own business. I ended up leaving because he was an asshole and was sexually harassing me. There was no HR for me to go to, and since it was me and a handful of part time guys, I didn

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Fathers Create Bulletproof Backpacks

By Laurie on August 10th in Human Resources

I think it’s amazing when people can marry passion with profit. I’m not sure if the bulletproof backpack is the next big thing, but it’s an interesting combination of perceived need in the marketplace and innovation. Now if we can only get some of these to the troops in Iraq, we’d be in business. Fathers [...]

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Sometimes I Miss My Job

By Laurie on August 9th in Human Resources

The best thing about having a job? Being able to walk into a neighbor’s cube or office and — out of the blue — start singing Spider Pig. It’s just not the same when you work at home and write for a website.

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J&J Sues Red Cross Over Use Of Emblem

By Laurie on August 9th in Human Resources

Whenever you hear a smarmy politician berate the Democrats, frivolous lawsuits, and the trial lawyer lobby — just remember that good old J&J is using its own corporate legal department, supplemented by outside counsel that will be funded in part by government tax breaks and corporate welfare, to sue The Red Cross. The Red f-ing [...]

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The HR Secrets You Want to Know

By Laurie on August 8th in Human Resources

Are you the kind of person who believes that your employer has a big, secret way of paying its executive leadership team and another way for paying the peons? Do you fear that your compensation is directly related to the fact that your boss doesn’t like you? Are you convinced that your annual review process [...]

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Hiring MBAs with Powerpoint Skills

By Laurie on August 8th in Human Resources

I couldn’t have said it better myself: One of the nation’s top business schools wants to ensure that the art of boring businesspeople at meetings never dies. The University of Chicago, which has the fifth-ranked M.B.A. program in the country, is requiring prospective students to submit a PowerPoint-style presentation with their applications starting this fall. [...]

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LTV Steel, Pension & Healthcare

By Laurie on August 8th in Human Resources

If you haven’t seen this clip from last night’s AFL-CIO debate moderated by Keith Olbermann, please watch it. My grandfather retired from LTV Steel way back in the 1970s. When he died, my grandmother initially continued her coverage under my Papa’s retiree medical benefit plan. She was also eligible to receive his pension, which was [...]

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Subprime Mortgage Crisis

By Laurie on August 7th in Human Resources

Jim Cramer gets it right. We’re spending billions to build houses in Iraq and we have a mortgage crisis on our hands. When middle class Americans are falling behind on the repayment of their home equity loans, we’re in trouble. Combine the mortgage crisis with increased pressure to improve profitability and productivity in the global [...]

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