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 | 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 Blog | Legislation may give hope to job-seeking ex-cons

When people are convicted of a crime and have paid their debt by serving jail time, there is a reasonable expectation that they can re-enter society and rebuild their lives once they are released. The reality for many ex-convicts, however,

Career Center Blog | Are we in a 'mom-cession'?

There's been a lot of talk lately about the "motherhood penalty," and I think it's finally becoming tiresome for those of us who have careers, or are trying to, and also happen to be parents. Don't get me wrong --

Career Center Blog | Overcoming the age-old 'maturity' problem

First impressions play an enormous role in how a candidate will be evaluated. Sometimes, however, these impressions are completely out of our control. Take the case of one job seeker I recently spoke with, who met a hiring manager about

Career Center Blog | No easy answers for delicate EEOC questions

Ask any recruiter or hiring manager about what elements of a job seeker's profile they don't want to touch with a 10-foot pole and their likely answer is anything covered under the purview of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Career Center Blog | Equal pay for equal work? Not yet

Elected leaders failed working women and families yesterday. A proposed bill to help equalize women's pay to that of their male counterparts was struck down by Republicans in the U.S. Senate Tuesday, failing to proceed to debate after a 52-47

Career Center Blog | Restoring balance to the background-check process

In this age of hyper-security, many job seekers over the past decade have found themselves subjected to an increasing number of background checks during the interview process. Before 9/11, most background checks were reserved for positions that involved the control

Career Center | Can they ask that? Questionable interview topics

By Wendy Ryan / Salary.com A recent Salary.com poll on job interviews revealed that many people have been asked questions in an interview that were, well, questionable. This raised the question about which questions were legally off-limits. Here's what Salary.com

Career Center | Job seeker suspects age discrimination

By Marie G. McIntyre / McClatchy-Tribune News Service Q: I believe I have been discriminated against because of a plane ticket. After three phone interviews with an out-of-state company, I was invited to corporate headquarters to meet with the hiring

Career Center | How to overcome a criminal record when job hunting

By Rex Huppke / Chicago Tribune Q: My son is 22 years old and will be graduating from college in a year with a degree in accounting and finance. When he was 20, he was arrested at school and convicted

Career Center Blog | Making milk on the clock? Know your rights

After reading recently about the federal judge's ruling against a Houston mother who says she was fired after asking for a place to pump breast milk, I felt momentarily glad for the situation I faced when I went back to

Career Center Blog | How to wield the double-edged social recruiting sword

Social media is here to stay! Tweet your way to a new job! Use Facebook to meet hundreds of new contacts! ... From the look of many job-search advice columns, it would seem as if the use of online social

Career Center Blog | How to overcome the 'over the hill' bias

In October 1984, during a televised debate with Democratic presidential challenger Walter Mondale, President Ronald Reagan gave one of the more succinct defenses of older workers ever given by a politician. When asked about whether his advanced age (he was

Career Center Blog | Sexual harassment still exists -- here's how to handle it

Harassment is back in the news thanks to this year's presidential campaign. Not that the problem ever went away. Over the years, a number of women (and a couple of men) have told me their all-too-familiar tales of workplace

Career Center | Underdressed? Dress codes can help prevent sticky situations

By Joyce M. Rosenberg The Associated Press It’s an uncomfortable summertime moment: A female co-worker shows up for work in the shortest of shorts. Or a male staffer arrives wearing a tank top. Dress-code problems aren’t confined to the summer

Career Center Blog | Are women who take their spouse's name judged unfairly at work?

I recently got married with the least amount of fanfare possible. No engagement announcement. No ring. No dress. No floral arrangements, seating charts, Jordan almonds, bridesmaids, or high-priced photographer (the picture at the left is not of me). Just

Career Center | I wasn’t hired because I’m not a ‘cultural fit.’ What does that mean?

By Kristen Fife NWjobs Q: I was hoping you could give me some insight into feedback I received from an agency after I interviewed for a job with one of their clients. I thought the interviews went really well, but

Career Center Blog | Single women outearning their male counterparts? Not so fast

Since last week was Unmarried and Single Americans Week, I thought it fitting to look at some contradictory statistics about single women's salaries I've seen floating around lately. But first, let's revisit just how prevalent not being married has become.

Career Center | What to do when your promotion goes to the boss' daughter

By Kristen Fife NWjobs Q: I recently applied for and was verbally offered a managerial position at my company. I was told I would be receiving a salary increase and signing a contract for this promotion within a week.

Career Center Blog | Book event 6/26: How today's men juggle work and family

With Father's Day fresh in mind, the Elliott Bay Book Company hosts a 2 p.m. book reading today at its new Capitol Hill location with Donald Unger, author of Men Can: The Changing Image and Reality of Fatherhood in

Career Center Blog | Expecting women to dial down the sexy at the office

By now you've probably heard about Debrahlee Lorenzana, who's suing Citigroup for firing her from her banking job because she's too sexy. [Photo by MattC.] No matter what you think about the merit of Lorenzana's suit, the professionalism of her

Career Center | Ex-worker: Genetic test led employer to fire her

By Steven Greenhouse The New York Times Pamela Fink, seen during a media interview at her home, says she was targeted after telling bosses of test results. (Douglas Healey / AP) After one of her two sisters was found