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 seven important trends, wrapping up your internship, staying with a job you hate, making the most of your job, your most important customer, and job search for over-50s.

From the Work Buzz: 7 trends job seekers and workers should know about
“Where’s that crystal ball when you need one? While consumer confidence and new home sales are up, job seekers and employers alike are aching to get any good news on the job market these days. A new survey released this week may offer some hope. CareerBuilder and Robert Half International released its annual EDGE Report, which looks at current employment situation and the future hiring landscape. Here are some of the trends the study found and what they mean for you.”

Wally’s Comment: Find out who’s hiring, who’s not, trends in compensation negotiation, the effect of the stimulus package on hiring, and more.

From the Washington Post: Bring Your Internship to a Strong Close
“If you haven’t already developed a network of people who know your work and like you, get going on that immediately, experts say. Go to lunch with colleagues; go to the company cafeteria and introduce yourself to a table full of engineers or managers. Or look up alumni from your university who work at the company. Attend intern events and other activities for staff. Find someone who’s willing to mentor you for the next year.”

Wally’s Comment: There are lots of articles about finding, winning, and making the most of your internship. This is the only one I’ve seen on wrapping one up.

From Working Girl: Keeping A Job You Hate
“Not so long ago, you may have been advised to just dump that job you hate and find another.  No longer.  Now we are back to this old-fashioned, but sterling, advice: Don’t quit a job until you’ve nailed down a new one.”

Wally’s Comment: OK, you’re stuck in a job you hate. What should you do? Working Girl has some advice. Check out my post, “I hate my job!” as well.

From Forbes: Make The Most Of The Job You’ve Got
“Not so long ago, new jobs offering new challenges were easy to find. But with the economy struggling, it’s up to you to spot opportunities for growth in your current job.”

Wally’s Comment: Love it or hate it, every job has lessons for you. Here are some thought about getting the most form the job you’re in.

From Cube Rules: Your manager is your most important customer
“Read through the literature and you’d think customers are the most important people on the planet. And they are. It’s just that most people think someone other than their manager is the customer. The reality is, however, that your manager is your most important customer. Here are three reasons why.”

Wally’s Comment: Besides yourself, the person with the greatest impact on what you get out of your job is your boss. Your job is helping him or her succeed.

From Future Perfect: Job search for the 50 somethings
“One of the most vulnerable groups in this or any other recession is the 50 somethings. This is not necessarily because they are poor performers, but usually because they are simply more expensive than junior employees. Severing a few senior execs or older employees can make an instant and positive impact on any organisation’s salary bill. Additionally, at this level employees are also costly in terms of perks and benefits, with company cars, phones, lap tops, health and pension plans and longer holidays etc all contributing to reducing a company’s overheads when they cease. So whether you’re pushed or decide to take advantage of voluntary early retirement schemes, there are lots of things to take into consideration. So what can you do?”

Wally’s Comment: It’s a different job market when you’re over 50. Dorothy Dalton describes the market and some success-building strategies.

This is the story of Sergei and Tony. Both of them served in World War II. When they came home, they chose their life’s work in the same way.

They looked at projections of what the “best jobs” would be in the years ahead. My guess is that the lists they looked at resembled the one at “Hottest Careers for College Grads” or the one at “Top Ten Careers.”

Both of them were successful. They both retired financially secure and after receiving honors from their companies and their industries. But that’s where the resemblance stops.

Sergei is the essence of a “grumpy old man.” He wasn’t always grumpy, though. His wife thinks the job did it to him. I agree.

When you talk with Sergei, he never mentions his work. Not ever. He doesn’t socialize with people he used to work with.

Tony is the polar opposite. He laughs a lot and spends time with old work friends. He tells stories about work.

It’s not that Tony is living in the past. He volunteers with the SBA’s SCORE program to help small business. And he’s set himself the goal of playing the best golf courses in fifty countries. Did I mention that he loves golf and loves to travel?

Being “successful” is not enough for most people. Most of us want to do work that is important and rewarding with people we like. Tony had a career like that. Sergei didn’t.

I’m guessing that you want to wind up more like Tony and less like Sergei. If you do, use those “best careers” lists as starting points for research.

Find out what kind of daily work the people in different careers do. Use part-time jobs and internships to check out interesting career options.

Look for work where you can make enough money doing something you love. That’s the recipe for both a great career and a satisfying life.

The economy is down. Layoffs have decimated the workforce. If you’re one of those out of work or worried if you’ll have work at this time next week, it’s natural to consider a career change.

When the Great Depression hit, my grandfather’s business failed, along with many others. His career change was going to work for the railroad, running the dining car on trains to and from Florida.

Today, the Associated Press tells us that teaching is the most popular new career. Government work of all kinds starts to look good when the economy turns down. It looks steady, secure, and safe. It comes complete with benefits.

This is also the time of the “necessity entrepreneur.”  Those people start a business to keep the cash coming in after getting laid off.

This is also the time when “find a great job” schemes and scams surge. They promise big money and good jobs.

It will be easy. It’s a sure thing. Usually the folks who make those promises also are the folks who are going to sell you something to make them come true.

Here’s an example. A news release trumpets: “Recent Study Demonstrates The Fastest Way to a New Career is Likely in the Field of Real Estate.”

Sounds good, eh? But there’s no research in the news release to support the claim. There’s just a link to the site of the company who issued the release.

That’s where you’ll find a comparison chart of carefully chosen examples. You’ll also find the following statement. “A Great High-Paying Job – You’re practically guaranteed to get a job where you can earn $50,000 in the first year.”

The key word here is “can.” When you see that word in any claim about income from a job, you can usually be sure of two things.

You can be sure that the job involves commission selling. And you can be sure that the figure quoted is the best that anyone has done in living memory.

I don’t have anything against a real estate career. I’ve suggested to coaching clients who have sales skills, self-discipline, and the ability to master detail that getting into real estate now is a good long term strategy.

But it’s not likely to be a short term solution to cash flow problems. The real estate market is down, way down. Here’s a quote from the Charlotte Observer.

“Allen Tate, the Carolinas leading real estate firm, is closing one-fourth of its offices amid a wrenching housing slump that saw area sales and prices fall hard again last month.”

Tough times can be the spur to a career change that makes your life rich and rewarding. But they also bring lots of promises from people who want to sell you a magic solution.

Be skeptical. Do your due diligence before you invest in a “magical” career change.

The headline in my Charlotte Observer this morning says it all. “Thousands of Charlotte layoffs likely after Wachovia’s stunning fall.” There are headlines like that all around the country these days.

The financial crisis means there will be lots of layoffs. There will be mergers, too. What do you do if you’re in one of the companies that gets “merged.”

You’ve got two key challenges when the company you work for is merged into another. Look out. And look good.

Look out. Too many people figure “they won’t get rid of me” and then get surprised. Too many decide to “wait and see what happens” and wait until it’s too late.

Don’t be one of them. Get your credentials together. Tune up your resume. And start looking.

If you’ve got great performance reviews make sure you have copies that you can share with prospective employers. If you’ve got bosses who love you, ask if you can use them as a reference with their personal contact information, if necessary.

Fire up your network and start looking for opportunities and possibilities. It doesn’t matter what situation you’re in, there’s an opportunity in there somewhere.

Look good. These quickfire, forced mergers are different from classic mergers. Instead of taking place over months with plenty of time to evaluate talent, they took place over a weekend. The first order of business for your new bosses will be figuring out who they want to keep.

No matter how you’re feeling, make sure you’re focused, productive and pleasant in the office. Look like what you are: the employee everyone will want to keep. It’s way better to find a new job when you choose, not when you’re out on the street with thousands of others who look just like you.

Getting merged will change the world around you. It won’t be easy. But what comes out of it is up to you.

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 matching your personality to your career, resignation letters that won’t come back to haunt you, resumes falling into the black hole of cyberspace, how to deal with a counteroffer from your current employer, and advice from corporate recruiters.

From Employment Digest: Best Jobs For You – How to Match Your Personality to Your Career

“Why is it that one man or woman’s job search produces a dream career while another’s turns out to be a nightmare? The often overlooked reason is personality mismatches with the chosen career.”

Wally’s Comment: This post helps you look at career choice through the lens of personality.

From Kris Dunn, the HR Capitalist: I Quit!! Resignation Letters Gone Bad….

“Ah yes, the resignation letter. Properly crafted, an act of thankfulness, dignity and perhaps most importantly – full of language that doesn’t cause the proverbial “bridge” to combust into flames.

Wally’s Comment: When it’s time to go, go gracefully. It might feel good to do otherwise, but it’s usually a bad idea.

From Rusty Weston at My Global Career: How Résumés Find Black Holes

“What do job seekers and astronomers have in common? Dumping your résumé into a corporate receptacle is like plunging into a black hole in cyberspace. Okay, not always, but often enough to be a problem.

Wally’s Comment: You don’t want your resume to get lost, right?

From Forbes: Receive a Job Counter-Offer? Don’t Take It

“In my 25 years of experience, I have learned that accepting a counter-offer is usually career suicide. Watching your boss scramble to keep you may be a heady experience, but in exchange for that sweet moment, you’ll have squandered your honor, a sacrifice that will haunt you for many years. Even more troubling, you may never know exactly when or to what extent your reputation has been sullied. ”

Wally’s Comment: Accepting a counteroffer from your current employer seems like it might be a good idea, especially if the counter offer is really big. But beware. This is one of those situations that almost never turns out well.

From Career News: Recruiters Advice to Job Candidates

“We asked our Corporate Recruiters: What’s the most important advice you would give a Job candidate to gain the edge above the competition and get that interview?

Wally’s Comment: Here it is, folks, career advice from some of the very people you want advice from.