Career Center | 'Gray' jobs: How to tap into in-demand careers that support seniors

By Kerry Hannon / The New York Times As the population ages, related jobs in health care and housing are on the rise. By 2050, according to Pew Research projections, about 1 in 5 Americans will be over 65, up

Career Center | Q&A: Time to break cycle of abuse at work

By Marie G. McIntyre / McClatchy-Tribune News Service Q: The verbal abuse that I receive from my boss has been escalating for several years. About once a week, he begins shouting, cursing and banging on my desk. He starts criticizing

Career Center | Ryan McNamee's cool cruise-line job

What do you do? I am the marketing coordinator at Un-Cruise Adventures, an adventure cruise line [based in Seattle]. My primary role is to manage the visual assets and act as the company photographer and videographer. How did you get

Career Center | Ditch the golf clubs: Running is the new sport of networkers

By Cindy Krischer Goodman / The Miami Herald Want to network with the CEO of public company or the president of a university? Start running. Adam Goldstein, CEO of Royal Caribbean International, says his running workouts and passion for the

Career Center | Soft skills: Gen Y gets schooled in old-school professional etiquette

By Lora Shinn / Special to NWjobs Like many young professionals, Gracie Quatchon is learning how to navigate the business world with charm. It’s not necessarily something taught in school alongside marketing or budgeting, the 30-year-old Seattle banker says. Of

Career Center | What to do when a former employer wants you back

By Rex Huppke / Chicago Tribune Emotionally, jobs can be like lovers. We fall for them, fight with them and sometimes lose them. The Great Recession left millions of Americans jilted by their jobs. But as the economy continues its

Career Center | Q&A: Boss pressures workers to buy products

By Marie G. McIntyre / McClatchy-Tribune News Service Q: The head of our department has been pressuring employees to purchase products from her husband, who recently began selling diet supplements through a multilevel marketing company. When I was invited to

Career Center | Jen Green's cool cosmetics job

What do you do? I am the trade marketing and merchandise manager for butter LONDON, a Seattle-based cosmetics company. I work closely with the sales team to develop and deliver marketing collateral and merchandising elements to support our retailers and

Career Center | Ready or not, retirement usually happens

By Tim Grant / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Many people have surrendered to the idea that they will “work until they drop,” especially if they haven’t saved enough money to retire. The problem with that strategy is that a high percentage of

Career Center | How to return to workforce after lengthy gap

By Marie G. McIntyre / McClatchy-Tribune News Service Q: For 18 years, I stayed at home to care for a child with special needs. My son now has an independent living arrangement, so I am in the process of looking

Career Center | Company offers raises to employees who get tattooed with its logo

By Ricardo Lopez / Los Angeles Times A Brooklyn, N.Y., real estate company is rewarding employees who make a very personal -- and permanent -- display of their loyalty to the firm. The company, Rapid Realty, is offering its

Career Center | Giving feedback? Avoid delivering a 'praise sandwich'

By Alina Tugend / New York Times News Service Most of us think we know how to give feedback. Positive comments are better -- and more useful -- than negative ones. And if you do have to point out something

Career Center | What makes nurses want to stay put? The reasons might surprise you

By Allison Ellis / Special to NWjobs Long hours on your feet. Dealing with intense life-or-death situations. Combine that with recent changes in equipment, technology and an aging population, and the job of nursing -- one of the most vital

Career Center | Q&A: My co-worker can't stand me

By Marie G. McIntyre / McClatchy-Tribune News Service Q: What can I do about a co-worker who has decided he doesn’t like me? For the past two years, “Matt” has been disdainful and dismissive whenever I try to talk to

Career Center | Women have to learn how to say 'no' at work

Joyce E. A. Russell / The Washington Post “No is a very simple word. One syllable. Two letters. One of the shortest words in the English language, yet one of the most difficult for women to say at work.” This

Career Center | Jerks at work: a field guide for spotting and defending against them

By Rex Huppke / Chicago Tribune Imagine the workplace as a forest. We walk through the forest each day surrounded by creatures (co-workers). Some are kind, like squirrels and deer and animated talking bears. Others, like snakes and snarling wolves

Career Center | Site: Actuaries have best job; reporters the worst

The recently released 2013 CareerCast.com Jobs Rated Report concluded that actuaries have the nation’s best job. The survey weighed physical demands, stress, working environment, pay and hiring outlook. The 10 best jobs and their median annual salaries*: 1. Actuary: $87,650

Career Center | Q&A: Change office layout to improve employee morale

By Marie G. McIntyre / McClatchy-Tribune News Service Q: Our department's physical layout has created a lot of problems. My employees work in a completely open area without cubicles or dividers. There are no enclosed spaces where we can talk

Career Center | Freelance union: going it alone, together

By Steven Greenhouse / New York Times News Service Soon after landing a job at a New York law firm nearly 20 years ago, Sara Horowitz was shocked to discover that it planned to treat her not as an employee

Career Center | Book editor Kjersti Egerdahl's cool job

What do you do? I'm an editor of nonfiction illustrated books, mostly on pop-culture-related subjects. My company, becker&mayer! Book Producers, creates books for publishers. We work with a lot of licensors; I’ve done officially licensed books with Star Wars, Star

Career Center | How to handle hardball interview questions

By Marvin Walberg / Scripps Howard News Service Even candidates who are able to make a strong sales pitch in job interviews can find themselves easily tripped up by the unexpected: hardball questions. The trick to fielding those questions is

Career Center | Is using a recruiter right for you?

By Kristin Kalning / Special to NWjobs When Andrew Edmond left his job last summer, he didn’t immediately look for another one. But when he was ready to get back out there, he went straight to his network of recruiters.

Career Center | Q&A: Stuck in dead-end job, hitting hiring wall

By Liz Reyer / Minneapolis Star Tribune Q: The job market has been picking up, and I've been sending out a lot of resumes, but I'm not getting invited to interviews. My current job has turned into a dead end,

Career Center | Age-discrimination law needs beefing up, critics say

By Rex Huppke / Chicago Tribune Suppose I'm a business -- and what a handsome business I'd be! -- that's interviewing people for a job opening. There are two finalists, one 27 years old, the other 52. They have similar

Career Center | Family and Medical Leave Act still helps some, but not all

By Cindy Krischer Goodman / The Miami Herald In the struggle to balance our family and work lives, one law has made a giant difference for 35 million American workers -- the Family and Medical Leave Act. In February, the

Career Center | Q&A: Firefighter needs career-escape plan

By Marie G. McIntyre / McClatchy-Tribune News Service Q: I have been a firefighter for 13 years, and I also have ADHD. I went into firefighting after reading an article that said it was a good career choice for someone

Career Center | Good Job: Kate Murphy of Hunger Intervention Program

What do you do? I am the program manager for the Hunger Intervention Program (HIP). At HIP, we provide nutritious meals, basic cooking skills and nutrition education to underserved individuals in Seattle. I oversee the weekly meal programs and create

Career Center | Walking the personal, professional line on LinkedIn

By Cindy Krischer Goodman / The Miami Herald Have you ever received a request to connect on LinkedIn from someone you didn’t know or couldn’t remember? Josh Turner recently encountered this situation. The online request to connect came from a

Career Center | What employers want from job seekers

By Dawn Dugan / Salary.com The competition is fierce in today’s job market, and standing out in the crowd is more important -- and challenging -- than ever before. How do you know you’re giving employers exactly what they are

Career Center | Q&A: Maybe nit-picking boss isn't the problem

By Marie G. McIntyre / McClatchy-Tribune News Service Q: Seven years ago, we got a new manager who does not like careless errors. I usually do a great job, but sometimes I have a bad day and make mistakes, like

Career Center | Developer Shyam Habarakada's cool job

What do you do? I lead software development at Artefact [a Seattle technology product design company] and am a hands-on developer at 10,000ft, a business software product built by Artefact Product Group. This means I'm involved in multiple projects at

Career Center | How to handle a manipulative co-worker

By Joyce E.A. Russell / Special to The Washington Post You've felt their presence at work, even if you never heard them say anything in a public forum. You know they are there, behind the scenes, stirring the pot, getting

Career Center | Career makeover: Longtime IT manager must draft new career plan

By Lora Shinn / Special to NWjobs For 17 years, Barry Nichols was the IT manager at the U.S. Census Bureau’s Seattle regional office. But in 2012, the bureau office closed, forcing Nichols to look for a job for the

Career Center | NWjobs: Tell us about work lessons from your mom

What did your mother teach you about work? NWjobs is collecting vignettes about the career-related lessons readers learned from their mothers, whether it was verbally or by example. Email your contribution in 75 words or fewer to editor@nwjobs.com by April

Career Center | Q&A: My co-workers are complaining about me

By Marie G. McIntyre / McClatchy-Tribune News Service Q: I was recently told by both my boss and human resources that people have been complaining about me. My co-workers say I act superior and try to oversee their work. Apparently,

Career Center | Niki McKay's cool audio/video production job

What do you do? I own Blue Danube Productions, an agency that specializes in helping event planners bring ideas to life and bridge the gap between the technical requirements and their vision. That includes orchestrating video, video capture, video content

Career Center | A call for human decency in hiring, job seeking

By Diane Stafford / The Kansas City Star Job hunting is stressful -- more stressful than it needs to be when some simple human decency is missing. First, though, a couple of reminders. As a job hunter, keep telling yourself

Career Center | Pushing back on workplace bullying

By Sam Hananel / The Associated Press Margaret Fiester is no shrinking violet, but she says working for her former boss was a nightmare. “One day I didn’t do something right, and she actually laid her hands on me and

Career Center | Q&A: Territorial co-workers shun working mom

By Karla L. Miller / Special to The Washington Post Q: After a restructuring, I was given a new position that is less work but requires me to assist my colleagues. They have refused my help, started excluding me from

Career Center | Chief executive artist Kamal Siegel's cool job

What do you do? As chief executive artist, I get to run a studio called Digital Double [in Redmond], which does 2-D and 3-D graphics for the games and advertising industries. I get to manage the affairs of the company

Career Center | Sick time: What employers can do about the flu

By Joyce E.A. Russell / Special to The Washington Post The flu season arrived earlier than usual this past fall, and it has been widely reported as one of the worst in a decade. According to the Centers for Disease

Career Center | For 20-somethings, ambition comes at a price

By Teddy Wayne / New York Times News Service Every generation has its own anthem of making the journey from youthful naivete to adult reality, whether it's Neil Young's "Old Man," Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" or most recently, perhaps,

Career Center | Q&A: How can I control my temper at work?

By Liz Reyer / Minneapolis Star-Tribune Q: I’ve realized that I lose my temper at work once in a while, and people seem to be nervous around me. I don’t want to have that effect on people; what can I

Career Center | Cool Job: espresso-machine guru Bryan Arndt

What do you do? My job description [at Seattle Coffee Gear] reads: Interface with customer to give accurate estimates and on-site repairs; is the liaison between our customers and our techs. What this really means is that I translate tech

Career Center | Job seekers: Beware the background check

By Diane Stafford / The Kansas City Star Don Cameron is a smart job hunter -- smart enough to know that something he experienced may affect others, too. Cameron ran a background check on himself to see what potential employers

Career Center | Is working for a startup right for you?

By Lora Shinn / Special to NWjobs Molly Epstein loves her job. Since last May, she has been creating computer-aided 3-D models of jewelry for Ritani.com, a high-end diamond and jewelry e-commerce company. Working for a tech startup -- among

Career Center | Q&A: Is it OK to ask for interview feedback?

By Marie G. McIntyre / McClatchy-Tribune News Service Q: I recently completed a lengthy interview process for a general manager position. The first two interviews were with the owners of the company, followed by individual meetings with several mid-level managers.

Career Center | Women’s coding group aims to bridge tech gender gap

By Monica Chen / Raleigh News and Observer With laptops open and coffee in hand, a dozen women joined a Code & Coffee session in Raleigh, N.C., recently, where they coded Web pages, shared tips on design and chatted about

Career Center | Companies that hire people with disabilities tout benefits

By Rex Huppke / Chicago Tribune One of the best experiences of my life was watching Jamie Smith, a young man with autism, leave his routine in Chicago, travel to the Special Olympics World Games in the chaotic Chinese city

Career Center | Q&A: Owners not letting manager manage people

By Marie G. McIntyre / McClatchy-Tribune News Service Q: I work in a small company where the owners refuse to do anything about incompetent employees. As a department head, I am not allowed to confront poor performers because the top

Career Center | Good Job: Nancy Stillger of Art with Heart

What do you do? I am the program manager at Art with Heart, a nonprofit that heals children's emotional wounds through expressive, therapeutic books and programs. I oversee and develop programs and curriculum that support schools, hospitals and other nonprofit

Career Center | To curb workplace violence, employers should plan

By Gabrielle Banks / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Schaun D. Henry was leading an onsite training session on violence prevention in the workplace when a stranger barged into the room, headed straight for him and threatened: "I have a gun." The participants

Career Center | Headphones at work: yea or nay?

By Allison Ellis / Special to NWjobs David Aronchick, a self-described “productivity nerd,” runs Hark.com, a Seattle startup where users can create, share and play their favorite sound clips. Since the business is based on noise, you’d think that

Career Center | Q&A: Office feud leaves both parties tainted

By Marie G. McIntyre / McClatchy-Tribune News Service Q: For a long time, one of my co-workers was very rude and snippy to me. Our new manager recently decided that we should be separated, so she transferred both of us

Career Center | Furniture designer Andy Whitcomb's cool job

What do you do? I am a furniture designer, and I own two furniture companies, Whitcomb & Company and Brackish. Whitcomb & Company is a custom furniture company in which I design unique pieces made from salvaged wood, steel, and

Career Center | Picking a path: Students need skills to pay the bills

By Rex Huppke / Chicago Tribune Parents are often told -- by magazines, television news shows and Oprah -- that they are doing things wrong. Don’t give kids regular milk; give them organic or they’ll turn into mutant cow people.

Career Center | Unplugging: Some employers helping workers disconnect

By Tanya Mohn / New York Times News Service In this age of hyper-connectivity, some companies are adopting policies aimed at weaning employees from their electronic devices. Atos, an international information technology company, plans to phase out all emails among

Career Center | Q&A: Boss not helping with promised promotion

By Marie G. McIntyre / McClatchy-Tribune News Service Q: My manager says she wants to help me get promoted, but she doesn’t seem to be doing anything about it. For the past two years, she has said that my position

Career Center | Anthony Johnson's cool airline job

What do you do? I am an interiors engineer at Alaska Airlines and part of the team responsible for maintaining and improving Alaska Airlines' aircraft cabins, which includes seats, lavatories, carpets, etc. My main focus is to oversee the exterior

Career Center | What's that new number on my W-2?

By Diane Stafford / The Kansas City Star Look closely at your new W-2 form this tax season. Notice Box 12 and a two-letter code, DD. If you work for an employer with 250 or more workers, information in that

Career Center | Do exclamation points belong in work emails?

By Rex Huppke / Chicago Tribune Hello! I want you to know that I’m super excited about this week’s column!! It’s about exclamation points!!!! I recently received a work-related email riddled with them, as if it was written by an

Career Center | Encore careers: Program lets experienced professionals give back

By Randy Woods / Special to NWjobs After a career that had spanned a few decades with large corporations including General Electric and Hewlett-Packard, Wendy Weissman, of Portland, Ore., had transitioned into semi-retirement by 2004. She had launched her own

Career Center | Q&A: Absence doesn't make the boss grow fonder

By Marie G. McIntyre / McClatchy-Tribune News Service Q: One of my employees constantly calls at the last minute to say she will be arriving late or not coming in at all. “Ginger” also leaves early on a regular basis,

Career Center | Networking apps are bumping off the business card

By Julie Weed / New York Times News Service The business card has long since left the realm of the office Rolodex and entered the world of the Web. Business acquaintances and meeting attendees now transmit contact information between cellphones,

Career Center | Want to be an 'expert' in your field? Here's how

By Ken White / Special to The Washington Post You’re reading the newspaper, watching television or looking at something online that features comments or advice from an “expert.” How did that person get there? Why do reporters call on that

Career Center | Keep employees by keeping them happy

By Marie Stempinski / Tampa Bay Times Is your most important asset about to walk out the door? Studies show that seasoned, trained and productive employees -- your most important assets -- are increasingly feeling trapped and dissatisfied in their

Career Center | Q&A: Chatty co-workers are getting on my nerves

By Marie G. McIntyre / McClatchy-Tribune News Service Q: I am constantly distracted by people chatting near my desk. My cubicle sits next to a hallway, so there is an endless stream of employees passing by all day long. For

Career Center | Light designer Karen Fischer's cool job

What do you do? I am a senior designer at Tube Art Group [in Bellevue]. Tube Art Group designs, manufactures and installs custom signage and environmental graphics for a variety of clients including retail, stadiums, transit and healthcare. My area

Career Center | Pull together an interview look for less

By Lora Shinn / Special to NWjobs When her clients are figuring out what to wear for a job interview, Seattle-based wardrobe stylist Tannya Bernadette recommends that they check their own closets first. Why spend the money on a new

Career Center | Hydroplane museum director David D. Williams' cool job

What do you do? I am the executive director of the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum [in Kent]. We are the nation’s only museum dedicated exclusively to powerboat racing. Unlike many museums, all of our artifacts are restored to running condition,

Career Center | How to handle awkward interview questions

By Joyce E.A. Russell / Special to The Washington Post As an executive coach, I receive many questions from people who want to make a good impression in their interviews. But sometimes applicants are unsure how to handle the awkward

Career Center | Q&A: Misguided manager botches worker reviews

By Marie G. McIntyre / McClatchy-Tribune News Service Q: My boss and I have very different opinions about the performance of two people who report to me. She refused to sign their annual appraisals until I lowered the ratings and

Career Center | Lieutenant Commander Daniel Simon's cool job at NOAA

What do you do? I'm a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) commissioned officer currently assigned to the role of associate director for operations for the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory). My main responsibility is to find ships to perform oceanographic

Career Center | Time to ditch unhip briefcase, embrace the man purse

By Rex Huppke / Chicago Tribune Because I’m a very important man, I carry very important things, including a smartphone, an iPad, gum (fresh breath is critical when you’re important), a huge wad of cash that indicates importance, a slingshot

Career Center | Gains from cranes: Modest job growth for Seattle area in 2013

By Randy Woods / Special to NWjobs In spite of the lingering concerns over the slow economic recovery and the 286,000 people still out of work statewide, many forecasters agree that Washington, and especially the Puget Sound region, is poised

Career Center | Get a free NWjobs.com career makeover

Is your job search stuck? Do you need help switching careers or networking effectively? If so, you may be selected to get free job-hunting, networking and interviewing advice from a trio of experts in exchange for having your story and

Career Center | Q&A: How do I cope with layoffs at my company?

By Liz Reyer / Minneapolis Start Tribune Q: Things seemed to be going pretty well at work, and then we had a few layoffs. It’s really shaken me up, and I’m trying to settle down again. What do you suggest?

Career Center | Leaders, get out of your bubble to stay in touch

By Joyce E.A. Russell / Special to The Washington Post After last year’s presidential election, some experts talked about how the Republicans were out of touch with the very people they needed to have vote for them. That thinking holds

Career Center | Networking mistakes can kill a job hunt

By Heather Dugan / Salary.com Effective networking is a game changer. It’s the unofficial homework of today’s professional. It’s not just who you know -- it’s who you know who knows who you want to know. Most of us can

Career Center | Q&A: Discovery of tryst makes office enemy

By Marie G. McIntyre / McClatchy-Tribune News Service Q: About a year ago, I accidentally walked in on the CEO’s secretary in a compromising position with one of the vice presidents. From then on, this secretary did everything possible to

Career Center | 2012's workplace trends loom large for 2013

By Cindy Krischer Goodman / The Miami Herald As the country recovers from a recession, our workplaces are moving forward in new ways with new rules. Changes are afoot from how our offices look to who runs them and what

Career Center | Problem solved: How to be a fixer, not a whiner

By Cindy Krischer Goodman / The Miami Herald Most days, real estate agents storm into Ron Shuffield’s office with problems. They might have a closing that’s about to blow apart or a commission in dispute. They lay out all the

Career Center | Q&A: My hiring decisions aren't very good

By Liz Reyer / Minneapolis Star Tribune Q: My hiring decisions don’t seem to be very good. The past few people I’ve hired have fallen short of my expectations. I can’t figure it out -- I’m hitting it off with

Career Center | Shawndra Illingworth's cool bobblehead job

What do you do? I’m a sales associate at Funko, which produces licensed pop-culture toys. It’s often referred to as “slangin’ bobbleheads.” Some of my main focuses? Obtaining new customers, keeping current and potential customers excited about Funko items and

Career Center | For most workers, pay will increase slightly next year

By Len Boselovic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The average U.S. worker in the private sector can expect about a 3 percent salary increase in 2013, a little bit more than this year's increase, according to compensation consultants. How much of that

Career Center | 9 ways to make yourself more marketable in 2013

By Lora Shinn / Special to NWjobs Those pseudo-Mayan predictions didn’t come true, so you’ll need to prep for a new year. Why not make it one of the best so far, at least career-wise? Here are nine tips for

Career Center | Q&A: How to get micromanager off your back

By Liz Reyer / Minneapolis Star Tribune Q: My new boss doesn't seem to realize that I know how to do my job. He's a nice guy, but he is always telling me what to do even though I've been

Career Center | Animator Tom DesLongchamp's cool job

What do you do? I am an animator. I use whatever materials/tools are available to create animations. This primarily occurs on my computer with the help of my Wacom Cintiq, which is a special monitor and stylus that allows me

Career Center | Too busy to volunteer? Here's how to squeeze it in

By Cindy Krischer Goodman / The Miami Herald Erin McHugh had been working as a bookseller during the day and author at night. Her jam-packed work schedule left her little time for volunteering. Feeling unfulfilled, she decided to try an

Career Center | 11 reasons you didn't get that job

By Aaron Gouveia / Salary.com You thought you nailed that interview, but weeks have gone by without a peep from the employer. Wondering why? Here's a list of common interview mistakes, one of which may have been your downfall. Arriving

Career Center | Q&A: Whose side is HR department on?

By Rex Huppke / Chicago Tribune Q: Do you believe HR departments are there for the benefit of the workers or the employers? A: I've had to deal with human resources only once in my life (apparently some people didn't

Career Center | Good Job: Rob Schadt of Big Brothers Big Sisters

What do you do? I am a program manager at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound, the largest mentoring organization in Washington state. I assist in supervising our team of match coordinators (who support the more than 750 matches

Career Center | Watch your words if you want career success

By Diane Stafford / The Kansas City Star Little things we say every day can make or break our workplace image. Darlene Price, an executive coach and founder of Well Said Inc., has a list of phrases that we may

Career Center | How to ace a virtual job interview

By Lora Shinn / Special to NWjobs Moments before a recent job interview with a tech company, Anna White sat in a small room in the prospective employer’s satellite office in Irvine, Calif., facing a desk. A phone rang, and

Career Center | Vacation days: Use 'em so you don't lose 'em

By Cindy Krischer Goodman / The Miami Herald Inside Sephora, where nail polishes and perfumes abound, Dwight O’Neal holds out a makeup brush to dab his brand’s illuminizer on a young woman. In the next few weeks, O’Neal will travel

Career Center | Q&A: Is it too late for tardy worker to make amends?

By Marie G. McIntyre / McClatchy-Tribune News Service Q: My manager recently gave me a performance warning for coming to work late. She has started monitoring me very closely, which makes me feel like some sort of criminal. I don't

Career Center | Script supervisor Rhona Rubio's cool job

What do you do? As a [Seattle-based] script supervisor, I'm the one who makes sure the lead actor's hair is parted in the same direction during a scene, even though we may be shooting the scene over multiple days. I

Career Center | Rejection goes hand-in-hand with job seeking

By Jeffrey Kudisch / Special to The Washington Post For those on the job hunt, there will inevitably be setbacks. But it’s how you deal with those setbacks that can prepare you for success and leadership in your career. Job

Career Center | Job burnout: Who's at risk, what causes it and how to fight it

By Ellen Jean Hirst / Chicago Tribune While the economy is flashing signs of a rebound, it’s a markedly different story for a growing number of workers, according to a survey released in late October. More workers than ever report

Career Center | Q&A: Few people at work know that I exist

By Marie G. McIntyre / McClatchy-Tribune News Service Q: Even though I'm a senior manager, no one outside my department seems to know I exist. Whenever people need information related to my group, they always contact my boss. Instead of