Every week I check dozens of “career” blogs and other online publications, looking for things that will help you find a job, get promoted, develop your skills, and keep everything in perspective and balance. Here’s the pick of the lot for this week. I’m pointing you to items about Business Week’s list of the best places to launch a career, negotiating a salary package, using Facebook to help employers find you, learning from bad jobs, and a systematic way to see what jobs might be the perfect fit for you.

From Business Week: The Best Places to Launch a Career

“To lure and keep young talent when cash is tight, companies of all stripes are appealing to Gen Yers’ ambitions for speedy advancement—and their desire to do good while doing well.”

Wally’s Comment: Here’s Business Week’s annual look at the best places to start a career. Check it out. Then figure out the best place for you.

From Fortify Your Oasis: Negotiating salary package/remuneration/filthy lucre

“The motto of the Gucci family is: Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten. In this extract from the best-selling job-hunting book, Where’s My Oasis? Rowan Manahan looks at one of the make-it-or-break-it moments of the selection process - negotiating your package.”

Wally’s Comment: Negotiating salary is tough. Here’s some guidance about how to handle the moment when it comes up.

From Willy Franzen at One Day One Job: Use Facebook Ads to Make Employers Hunt You Down

“If you pay any attention to the news, you might think that anyone who is looking for a job should immediately cancel his or her Facebook membership and never sign up again. Headlines read: Bank Intern Busted by Facebook, Employers Look at Facebook Too, and Employers Snoop on Facebook. There’s rarely anything new in the stories, but somehow they continue to pop up in all sorts of media outlets. More and more companies are using Facebook as a recruiting tool (and those who aren’t yet should hire us to help them), but for the most part any press that has included the words “employer” and “Facebook” has been negative. Not anymore.”

Wally’s Comment: This is step-by-step stuff, designed primarily for new graduates, but usable by anyone who’s out hunting for a job.

From the Monster Blog: Top 5 Things My Bad Jobs Taught Me

“When people find out I work for Monster, they often ask me for advice on their own careers. I give this standard guidance when people complain they have a bad job: Put your resume together, start looking and try not to let the situation get you down. It will pass. But every experience, good or bad, teaches you life lessons, and work is no exception. Here are the top five lessons I’ve learned from jobs that were not a good fit.”

Wally’s Comment: I don’t know anyone who’s made it through a career, or even a small part of one, without winding up in a job that was bad for them. When that happens to you, and it will, your challenge will be to learn from the experience. Here’s what one person has learned already.

From Juliet Jones at the Career Key Blog: 5 Steps to Smarter Career Exploration: Leave No Stones Unturned

“When choosing a career, it’s easy to have a narrow mind about your choices. We’re most comfortable with careers we’ve heard of and know something about, even if our only information comes from TV: think forensic scientist, real estate agent, fashion designer, crabfisher, those crazy Mythbusters guys making hovercrafts in their garage (job title anyone?) and the “usual suspects” doctors and lawyers. But wouldn’t you hate missing out on a great career just because you didn’t dig deep enough? Don’t be intimidated by massive databases of jobs or giant encyclopedias of career options. The internet makes exploration a little easier. Here are 5 steps to be smart and efficient in your career exploration – without leaving stones unturned.”

Wally’s Comment: Most people choose a job because they know someone who does it or because some guidance counselor tells them it’s a good idea. Juliet Jones presents a post with a systematic way to consider how your personality and various jobs match up. If you’re starting out or if you’re at a mid-career Exploration stage, this will be a great exercise for you. If you’re not there at the moment, bookmark this post so you can visit it when your time comes.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 12th, 2008 at 10:56 am and is filed under Exploratory, Tools and Strategies for Success. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.