Can Birth Order Determine Your Career?

Ah, sibling rivalry. Relentless competition, name-calling, hair-pulling and blame-shifting plague households with two or more children everywhere. Can't we all just get along?

Well, sure, sometimes. But the reality is that all siblings aren't created equal and they don't get treated as such. Firstborns, for example, often get shafted because parents are stricter with them, while later-born kids might have fewer rules. And everyone knows that the youngest seems to get away with murder because parents have seen it all before. And where's the middle child in all of this? Forgotten or overlooked.

Depending on birth position, there are special roles within families, leading to different adaptation patterns and different personalities, says Ben Dattner, a New York City-based organizational psychologist. As a result of a stricter upbringing, for example, firstborn children tend to be more extroverted and confident, while second-born kids are more rebellious and open to new experiences, he says. The youngest child is usually the most creative and can be manipulative to get his or her way.

Clearly, birth order affects personality, but what about career advancement and success? Several studies show that firstborns and only children usually reach higher educational goals, obtain greater prestige and acquire more net worth, while the middle child is likely to struggle a bit more.

"A child's position in the family impacts his personality, his behavior, his learning and ultimately, his earning power," says Michael Grose, author of "Why First Borns Rule the World and Last Borns Want to Change It." "Most people have an intuitive knowledge that birth order somehow has an impact on development, but they underestimate how far-reaching and just how significant that impact is. "

Here's a look at the effect birth order may have on you:

Firstborn:

Personality: Firstborns are ambitious, assertive, dominant and disciplined compared with their younger siblings. They're determined to succeed yet fearful of losing position and rank, and are defensive about errors and mistakes, Dattner says.

Compensation: A recent survey by CareerBuilder.com found that workers who were the firstborn child in their families were more likely to earn $100,000 or more annually compared with their siblings.
Professions: The oldest tend to pursue vocations that require higher education, like medicine, engineering or law. Firstborns from the CareerBuilder.com survey reported working in jobs in government, engineering, pharmacy and science. Ohio State University researchers found firstborn children were more likely to pursue "intellectual" jobs.

Job level: Workers who are firstborn are more likely to report holding a vice president or senior management position, according to the survey.
Famous firstborns: Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, Winston Churchill, Sylvester Stallone and Bill Clinton. Read More...

Avoid These 7 Work Taboos

Whether it's dancing on top of the bar at the company holiday party, chewing with one's mouth open or falling asleep in a meeting, everyone is guilty of committing some kind of faux pas -- social, professional or otherwise.
To avoid putting your career on the line, try to avoid committing the following taboos while on the clock.

Taboo No. 1: Kissing a co-worker

The likely scenario: You've had a crush on your co-worker since you started working a few months ago. Now it's the holiday party and you've taken full advantage of the open bar and the liquid courage it's provided you to flirt with your fling. Before you know it, you're locking lips for all to see -- and talk about come Monday morning. If this sounds familiar, you're not alone; 35 percent of workers in a 2007

CareerBuilder.com survey admitted to kissing a co-worker.

Our advice: If you can't restrain your desires to smooch your colleague, at least do yourself the favor of waiting until you're behind closed doors.

Taboo No. 2: Lying about your credentials
You've read the stories in the newspapers -- CEOs, celebrities and ordinary workers alike are fired every day for one common crime: lying. In a recent CareerBuilder.com survey, one candidate invented a school that didn't exist, while another went as far as submitting samples of work -- that actually belonged to the interviewer. Thirty-eight percent of workers surveyed indicated they had embellished their job responsibilities, 18 percent lied about their skill sets and 10 percent lied about their academic degrees.

Our advice: Whether it's about your education, experience or previous employers, fudging anything on your résumé is never a good idea.

Taboo No. 3: Wearing inappropriate clothing
How many times have you heard, "Dress for the job you want, not the job you have?" Yet how many times do we see this mantra avoided in our offices? Something tells me that the

marketing assistant from the 15th floor doesn't strive for a career in prostitution, so why is she dressing that way? Not only does dressing inappropriately at work send the message that you don't care about your professional image, it also hinders your chances of moving up the corporate ladder. In a recent CareerBuilder.com survey, 41 percent of employers said that people who dress professionally tend to be promoted more often than others in their organization.

Our advice: Follow the mantra -- and mean it. Read More...

Blogging for Dollars: How do bloggers make money?

By Michael Agger



Last week, the blog search engine Technorati released its 2008 State of the Blogosphere report with the slightly menacing promise to "deliver even deeper insights into the blogging mind." Bloggers create 900,000 blog posts a day worldwide, and some of them are actually making money. Blogs with 100,000 or more unique visitors a month earn an average of $75,000 annually—though that figure is skewed by the small percentage of blogs that make more than $200,000 a year. The estimates from a 2007 Business Week article are older but juicier: The LOLcat empire rakes in $5,600 per month; Overheard in New York gets $8,100 per month; and Perez Hilton, gossip king, scoops up $111,000 per month.

With this kind of cash sloshing around, one wonders: What does it take to live the dream—to write what I know, and then watch the money flow? Read More

Jobs for Us....Bloggers!

Definitely like me you are wondering what more can we do inside this techy world of World Wide Web. As a blogger, all I’m doing for the meantime is copying interesting write-ups from one site, mostly yahoo, and publish it here for my blog and that's a bit odd knowing that I am powered by Google. Well more to that, I have just realized it's one big mistake considering the fact that they are copyrighted so I’ve decided to change my style of copying not all of the article and will bring it to where it must be read legally. In this connection I would like to ask an apology publicly through this blog to the sites I have invaded their rights. I'm an amateur and I can't help it as I’m still trying to figure things out in here.

Moving on, a blogger has something big task to do for advertisers as I had my reading lately. More on getting the attention of your prospect viewers to your post to build high traffic that would lead to get noticed by the advertisers, there's one thing to really consider first and foremost. It's with the idea of being YOU inside your public little world. The interest comes in through the real thoughts you as blogger putting them into words. If they find it interesting then there'll be more visitors that would turn into subscribers. Or the contrary, they will hate your blog and will be commentors that will still surely increase your status quo. And this is what I am doing for my improvement. I'm a newbie and I am learning.

So what are the other thing blogging can give to you. A job with such high pay. I may have not yet experienced it but I’ll make sure I will. Along the process of changing my style, there might get interested with my thoughts and will hire me.

And talking about jobs check out for this Jobs for Bloggers.

tHeSe aRe hOt aNd iN!!!

Gotta Have Travel Gadgets

A list of must have travel gadgets for the technologically inclined road warrior, as compiled by Time.com's Philip Elmer-Dewitt.

Airport Express
If you spend a lot of time in hotel rooms tethered to a 3" blue Ethernet leash or racking up $9.95-a-day wireless charges, this little white box could be the handiest 7.58 ounces in your computer bag. Originally marketed as a device for extending the range of an existing Wi-Fi network or for beaming music from a computer to a home stereo system, Apple's Airport Express also functions as a wireless base station in its own right. Just plug that Ethernet cable into the box and the box into an unoccupied outlet. When you fire up your computer, the transmitter shows up, ready to be configured into your own private Wi-Fi domain. Share it with whoever is in the room with you or, if you don't enter a password, your neighbors down the hall. List price: $299
Canon Powershot SD1100 IS Digital Elph
Picking a camera to take on the road isn't easy: Kodak, Konica, Nikon and the rest compete furiously with multiple product lines and trot out new features every few months. But for travel snapshots, we're partial to the Canon series of point-and-shoots — particularly the Powershot SD1100IS, an 8-megapixel ultra-light with image stabilization, face recognition and a vestigial viewfinder for quick snaps. The camera is smaller than a pack of cards and shuts down tighter than the Batmobile — perfect for slipping unobtrusively into a jeans pocket. Yet it's capable of taking sharp, high-pixel density photos even from a bouncy rickshaw. More serious photographers may favor Panasonic's $300 Lumix for its manual controls and wide angle Leica lens (for a fraction of Leica's price). But the Lumix's lens protrudes from its body and is exposed to the elements; so when a photo op occurs, it's more likely to be in your bag and not in your hand. List price: $249
Franklin 12-language (Speaking) Global Translator
The most useful sentence to learn in any language is: "My friend will pick up the tab." Unfortunately, that's not one of the 12,000 pre-programmed phrases on Franklin Electronics' 12-language Speaking Global Translator, although you could certainly piece it together from the 450,000 words stored in its memory. With its dim screen and clunky interface, it may take you some time to get the device to shout, "That man just stole my wallet!" in Russian or Italian, but what are you going to do if you get pick pocketed one of those quaint corners of the world where nobody speaks English? If the tiny keyboard defeats you, Ectaco makes a high-end, $759.95 speech-recognition model with a hand-held scanner for inputing text. List price: $229.95
MacBook Air
This machine is Steve Jobs' idea of the perfect companion for the traveling executive, and it's pretty much what you would expect out of Cupertino: a razor thin masterpiece of industrial design that, in ways large and small, favors elegance over practicality. To minimize unsightly ports it eliminates the Ethernet and Firewire slots. To maintain a profile slim enough to fit into an interoffice envelope, it does without a CD/DVD drive and sports a battery that can't quite make it from SFO to JFK on a single charge (yet can't be replaced by a fresh one). Still, this is the computer we would pack in our briefcase if we had our druthers. The screen is gorgeous. The keyboard is full-size and backlit for when the cabin lights dim. And with a built-in camera and mike, it doubles as a videophone for conducting face-to-face meetings without the jetlag. List price: $1,799 ($799 extra for a solid-state drive)
Kensington ComboSaver Portable Notebook Lock
A notebook computer is stolen every 53 seconds in the U.S. It says so right on the box this lock comes in, citing 2005 FBI statistics. So imagine how fast your laptop — and the precious data it contains — might fly out the door if you left it unattended in a Starbucks in London or Paris? Kensington has been making notebook security systems for years now, and theirs is the brand you see most often in college dorm rooms and other areas where laptops are easily swiped. This lightweight model, with its 3-inch-to-6-feet self-coiling cable, slips easily into a computer bag. But don't leave your latte for long. The cable is no match for a pair of wire cutters. List price: $24.99

Check for more

He's Here...Harry is Back!

Hear Yeah! Harry is back....

I have checked it out and it's killing me to excitement... It will really chill your bone which definitely due to our every anticipation after the slipped of supposed schedule...Great effects of course that no one, other movies, can ever defeat...i'm a fan so be it...This trailer really thrills...More than Batman does...Will this win the box-office record against the Dark Night??.I'll have my bet counted in...

And this little young boy is having his debut on screen as the little Lord Voldemort......



Here it is "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"

Woman Saves $12,000 By Collecting Fives

A sum like $12,000 doesn't usually make the news, but one Boston Globe reporter has managed to trick herself into saving that amount by adopting a creative way to save. With two daughters in college and a mortgage to pay, Marie Franklin and her husband didn't have any extra money to put into savings. While perusing online, she came across a saving trick that suggested saving every five she acquired and depositing them into a separate savings account.

Once she's collected ten fives in her wallet, Marie deposits the $50 into her designated savings account, and once that account has $2,000 she purchases a CD to earn higher interest. After three years of saving all of her fives, she has accumulated $12,000 in savings. Marie acknowledges that this method of saving requires discipline, but her unconventional habit has obviously worked for her.t

taken from yahoo.com

Trivia of the Day!!!!

'World's oldest blogger' dies in Australia

SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian woman described as the world's oldest Internet blogger has died at the age of 108 after posting a final message about singing "a happy song" in her nursing home.

Olive Riley "passed away peacefully on July 12 and will be mourned by thousands of Internet friends and hundreds of descendants and other relatives," a note on her website said.

Riley had posted more than 70 entries on her blog from Woy Woy on the east coast since February last year, sharing her thoughts on modern life and her experiences living through the entire 20th century.

Born in the outback town of Broken Hill on October 20 1899, she lived through two world wars and raised three children while doing various jobs, including ranch cook and barmaid.

In her final post on June 26, she wrote: "I can't believe I've been here in this nursing home for more than a week.

"How the days have flown, even though I've been in bed most of the time. I still feel weak, and can't shake off that bad cough.

"Penny, who's in the next bed to mine, had a visit one day this week from her daughter, who's a professional singer. Guess what happened! She and I sang a happy song, as I do every day, and before long we were joined by several nurses, who sang along too. It was quite a concert!"

Riley's blog, initially on www.allaboutolive.com.au and more recently at http://worldsoldestblogger.blogspot.com, was "mind-blowing to her," her great grandson Darren Stone said.

"She had people communicating with her from as far away as Russia and America on a continual basis, not just once in a while," he told the national AAP news agency.

"She enjoyed the notoriety -- it kept her mind fresh."

credit for yahoo.com...........

Baby Names Trivia..............

Most Popular Baby Names Change Dramatically

Jeanna Bryner
Senior Writer
LiveScience.com Tue Jul 8, 4:41 PM ET

The 1960s brought us baby names such as April and Sunshine, and naming new Americans has never been the same.

So when Sunday Rose Kidman Urban was born this week, the baby of an actress and a country western singer, news of her distinctive name created only a small stir. While many parents still hew to traditional names, U.S. babies now are tagged with an ever-increasing diversity of names for which the inspirations range from the calendar to languages from afar.

The top 10 baby names from 1950 look nothing like today. Here's the list from 1950, according to the U.S. Social Security Administration:

Most popular boy/girl baby names in 1950:

1. James / Linda
2. Robert / Mary
3. John / Patricia
4. Michael / Barbara
5. David / Susan
6. William / Nancy
7. Richard / Deborah
8. Thomas / Sandra
9. Charles / Carol
10. Gary / Kathleen

Here's the list from last year:

1. Jacob / Emily
2. Michael / Isabella
3. Ethan / Emma
4. Joshua / Ava
5. Daniel / Madison
6. Christopher / Sophia
7. Anthony / Olivia
8. William / Abigail
9. Matthew / Hannah
10. Andrew / Elizabeth

The name Mary had a long go, staying at No. 1 baby girl name from the 1880s through the 1950s, while John was one of the top five boy names during that same period. Parental preference for Michael took off in the 1950s, holding strong to this day.

The diversity in U.S. baby names has exploded since the 1950s. Back then, a quarter of all boys and girls got one of the top 10 baby names, according to Laura Wattenberg, author of "The Baby Name Wizard" (Broadway, 2005). In recent times, the top 10 names account for only one tenth of all baby names, Wattenberg writes. Her blog has an interactive tool that displays the historical popularity of thousands of names from the 1880s to now.

When it comes to contemporary inspiration, the days of the week are just one of the everyday resources from which folks snag new baby names.

Celebrities especially seem to reach far and wide lately, with baby names ranging from fruits (Apple Blythe Alison Martin, born to Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin) to colors (Fuchsia Catherine Sumner, born to Sting and Frances Tomelty) to plants (Poppy Honey Oliver, born to Jamie Oliver and Juliette Norton.

Movies can also cause a name to leap in popularity. While historically, the name Madison was more associated with boys than girls, the feminine usage took off in the 1980s and became ranked 29th as a female baby name in the 1990s, according to the Social Security Administration. Some say the movie "Splash," which came out in 1984, is behind the boom. (Daryl Hannah's mermaid character was named Madison after the street name in New York City.)

5 Lifestyle Activities That Can Get You Fired

Can having a bacon double cheeseburger and a cigarette put your job at risk? Maybe. It may sound surprising, but many off-the-job actions and lifestyles could put your job in jeopardy.

Fair Game?

Employment experts point out five key areas that a company may scrutinize:

• Smoking, drinking, and overeating. Due to the cost of health insurance, more and more employers view "unhealthy" habits as a threat to their bottom line.
• Risky behavior. Likewise, a company might see your bungee jumping hobby as a liability.
• Speech. Will your employer consider your blogging to be destructive griping?
• Romantic relationships. Dating someone at a competitor's company has landed employees in hot water. And some employers might take issue with unmarried coupling or even same-sex relationships (federal law doesn't protect employees from discrimination based on real or perceived sexual orientation).
• Political activity. Volunteering for Obama could be trouble if you have a pro-McCain boss, and vice versa.

Job- or industry-specific behaviors can lead to termination as well. A Ford worker who drives a Toyota is probably safe -- unless he or she is president of Ford. But a bank employee who bounces a personal check could get the boot.

Cause or Just Because

If these reasons for termination seem unfair, they must be illegal, right? Not necessarily. Just because most employers don't let valued employees loose for off-the-job activities and lifestyles, doesn't mean they can't.

"Most workers in the private sector don't understand that, unless they live in Montana and Arizona, their job is at-will," Paul Secunda, an assistant professor of law at the University of Mississippi, told Yahoo! HotJobs. "At-will means an employee can be fired for good cause or no cause at all," Secunda said.

Federal job protections include gender, race, religion, and national origin, as well as disability. "Some state laws forbid discrimination on other bases, including sexual orientation, or status as a smoker," said Rick Bales, a professor at Northern Kentucky University/Chase College of Law. Smokers in the tobacco-growing state of Kentucky, for example, are safe from termination, he said.

Don't Be Fooled

Although union members and public sector (government) workers generally have more protections, employees in the private sector -- the bulk of the U.S. workforce -- can be fired at any time, and usually without recourse.

"Unless you were fired because you are a member of a protected class under federal law, or under another state statute, it's likely not illegal," said Kimberly Malerba, an associate who litigates employment cases with Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, P.C., a law firm on Long Island, New York.

The good news is that most companies don't go out of their way to snoop into employees' lives, Malerba told Yahoo HotJobs. "A company is most concerned with (off-the-job) behaviors that directly conflict with business interests."

5 Tips to Consider

Legal experts have advice for protecting your job from unexpected dangers:

• Understand the concept of at-will employment. Don't assume that termination must be illegal just because you think it was unfair.
• Be fully aware of your company's policies and terms of employment. Read the employee handbook, and ask HR if you have any questions.
• Be familiar with the company's internal dispute mechanisms (if any) for filing grievances.
• Think before you act. Could your employer see your actions off the job as potentially destructive to the company?
• Don't disclose. "You don't have to disclose lifestyle choices or off-the-clock activities unless there is a clear link to your ability to perform the job," Secunda said.

"My general advice is, don't do anything on your own time that, if reported in the local paper, would reflect poorly on you or your employer," Bales told Yahoo! HotJobs.

by Larry Buhl, for Yahoo! HotJobs

ARe you ONe of THem?

The 6 Most Annoying Coworkers: Are You One?

by Doug White, Robert Half International

Nearly every workplace has them: the Naysayer, who dismisses team members' ideas; the Spotlight Stealer, who claims credit for a colleague's efforts; and other annoying coworkers who make collaboration difficult. Following are six professionals whose irritating behaviors and irksome attitudes prevent them from forming productive relationships at work -- and what you should to do avoid following in their footsteps:

1. The Naysayer. This office dweller delights in shooting down ideas. Even during "blue sky" brainstorming sessions, where all suggestions are to be contemplated with an open mind, the Naysayer immediately pooh-poohs any proposal that challenges the status quo.

The right approach: Because great solutions often rise from diverse opinions, withhold comment -- and judgment -- until the appropriate time. Moreover, be tactful and constructive when delivering criticism or alternative viewpoints.

2. The Spotlight Stealer. There is definitely an "I" in "team" according to this glory seeker, who tries to take full credit for collaborative efforts and impress higher-ups. This overly ambitious corporate climber never heard a good idea he wouldn't pass off as his own.

The right approach: Win over the boss and colleagues by being a team player. When receiving kudos, for instance, publicly thank everyone who helped you. "I couldn't have done it without ..." is a savvy phrase to remember.

3. The Buzzwordsmith. Whether speaking or writing, the Buzzwordsmith sacrifices clarity in favor of showcasing an expansive vocabulary of cliched business terms. This ineffective communicator loves to "utilize" -- never just "use" -- industry-specific jargon and obscure acronyms that muddle messages. Favorite buzzwords include "synergistic," "actionable," "monetize," and "paradigm shift."

The right approach: Be succinct. Focus on clarity and minimize misunderstandings by favoring direct, concrete statements. If you're unsure whether the person you are communicating with will understand your message, rephrase it, using "plain English."

4. The Inconsiderate Emailer. Addicted to the "reply all" function, this "cc" supporter clogs colleagues' already-overflowing inboxes with unnecessary messages. This person also marks less-than-critical emails as "high priority" and sends enormous attachments that crash unwitting recipients' computers.

The right approach: Break the habit of using email as your default mode of communication, as many conversations are better suited for quick phone calls or in-person discussions. The benefit? The less email you send, the less you're likely to receive.

5. The Interrupter. The Interrupter has little regard for others' peace, quiet or concentration. When this person is not entering your work area to request immediate help, the Interrupter is in meetings loudly tapping on a laptop, fielding calls on a cell phone, or initiating off-topic side conversations.

The right approach: Don't let competing demands and tight deadlines trump basic common courtesy. Simply put, mind your manners to build healthy relationships at work.

6. The Stick in the Mud. This person is all business all of the time. Disapproving of any attempt at levity, the constant killjoy doesn't have fun at work and doesn't think anyone else should either.

The right approach: Have a sense of humor and don't be afraid to laugh at yourself once in awhile. A good laugh can help you build rapport, boost morale, and deflate tension when working under stressful situations.

It's fairly easy to spot the qualities that make the above individuals irritating -- at least when the behaviors are displayed by others. It can be a challenge to recognize when you exhibit them yourself. You may not realize, for instance, that you always pepper your communications with industry- or company-specific jargon, even when speaking with new employees or outside contacts. Though you may not be a full-fledged Interrupter or Stick in the Mud, take care to avoid heading down their paths.

The best advice: Remember common courtesy and act toward others as you want them to act toward you.

Friday the 13th.....Anti-Business?

June 13, 2008... So, it's the horrifying date of the year. I really don't see the point and don't have no idea what makes the number 13 frightening when it falls on Friday. Strange things will sure to happen as they say. And would you believe that it affects the business world? Check this out as I've tried to figure things out.

Frightened By Friday The 13th?

Symptoms Range From Mild Anxiety To Sense Of Doom

Feeling especially paraskevidekatriaphobic on this Friday the 13th? Paraskevidekatriaphobia combines two phobias: triskaidekaphobia, the fear of the number 13, and skeviphobia, the fear of Friday.

For most people, it's nothing to worry about. But scientists say that millions of Americans are affected by the fear of Friday the 13th, with symptoms ranging from mild anxiety to a sense of doom.

"By some estimates, businesses lose millions of dollars on Friday the 13th because people are hesitant to make deals, travel or shop like they do on non-jinxed days."

Where does the superstition come from? Some people think it dates back to the time of Jesus, who was supposedly crucified on a Friday -- not to mention that Jesus and 12 disciples makes 13.

According to Norse mythology, it was the Vikings who decided a hangman's noose should have 13 loops.
A coven of witches is generally regarded as a gathering of 13 weird sisters, to use Shakespeare's term.

Well, I still don't believe such. There's really no such thing as BAd Luck according to Napoleon Hills. How i wish that Friday the 13th will turn into a feast not a curse.

Is this for Real?!

Prince Charles pays off royal debt ... 350 years late

Tue Jun 10, 5:02 PM ET

LONDON (AFP) - Heir to the throne Prince Charles on Tuesday paid off a family debt incurred more than 350 years ago -- but was spared the accumulated interest that could have run into tens of thousands of pounds.

Charles handed over 453 pounds and 15 pence (572 euros and 20 euro cents, 885 dollars and four cents) which King Charles II failed to pay to the Clothiers Company in Worcester, central England, in 1651.

The king had commissioned uniforms for his troops to fight the republican forces of Oliver Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester the same year.

The modern-day Charles handed over the cash on a visit to the former headquarters of the royalist troops in the Faithful City, so-called because it remained loyal to his ancestor during the English Civil War.

"It seems that members of the Clothiers Company have a long memory," he said. "By long I mean nearly 400 years. Nevertheless, as a gesture of good will I come today prepared to honour this debt of 453 pounds and three shillings.

"I suspect that it will not have escaped your notice, however, I am resisting the immense temptation to pay the debt with full interest. I was not born yesterday."

The high commissioner of the Clothiers Company, Philip Sawyer, accepted the money and gave the future king a receipt.

If interest was taken into account, 453 pounds and three shillings in 1651 would have been worth approximately 47,500 pounds in 2007, the BBC website said, citing the Institute for the Measurement of Worth.

Job Alert!

The 'Relevant Experience' Conundrum

by: Brad Karsh of Yahoo

Question: What's the best way to get a job when you don't have all the experience or background a company is seeking?

Answer: For many job seekers, a simple job-description statement is the kiss of death: "Three years of relevant experience required."

If you want to change careers, you feel doomed by the frustration of not having the relevant experience. If you happen to be a student or recent graduate, it's a catch-22. How are you supposed to get experience when you don't have the experience to get a job?

When faced with this conundrum, there are three things to keep in mind as you go about the job search.

1. Focus on transferable skills.

Transferable skills are your secret weapon. They often get overlooked, but they can be your best ally.

When you are applying for a new job you must make yourself as "hirable" as possible to the recruiting director reviewing your resume. When you are listing your bullet points beneath each job title, really focus on what that recruiting director wants to see (without lying, of course).

Let's say you worked in marketing, but you want to move into finance. When you craft your finance resume, move all of the bullet points to the top that have anything to do with finance.

Even though it may not have been your biggest accomplishment, your very first bullet point might say something like:

Managed $300,000 annual budget consistently exceeding company's forecasting objectives.

2. Think outside the job.

Often, job seekers limit the experience section on their resume to paid jobs. That can be a big mistake, especially if you're looking to switch careers.

Volunteer work, boards and affiliations, and -- for college students -- leadership roles, can be tremendous opportunities to show off your relevant experience.

Here's an example. I worked once with a teacher who was looking to get into sales. Now we all know you have to do a bit of "selling" to the 5th graders, but it's not really all that relevant for a sales job. She lamented her lack of experience until she told me that she was one of the top fund-raisers for a charity that she worked with on the weekends and over the summer. She had sold more than $150,000 worth of pledges and donations!

We moved that to the top of her resume, and lo and behold she landed a sales job.

A great tip for all of you looking to switch fields or start something new is to get some experience outside the job, and then add it to your resume.

3. Be realistic.

Switching careers or getting that first job is tough. You should approach the market with reasonable expectations. It's one thing to parlay your college job promoting campus activities into a great entry-level PR job. It's quite another to try to turn that same experience into a role as director of corporate communications at Yahoo!.

If you are switching professions mid-career, be prepared to take a pay cut, to start out at the ground level, or to work for a boss who's 10 years younger. Sure, it's not the best scenario, but if you realize what you're up against, it can help ease the disappointment.

TIPS.......

What to Do When Your New Job Is a Nightmare

by Caroline Potter, Yahoo! HotJobs

You just started a new job. It's like a dream come true -- except when it's not. What's a professional to do when she accepts a job that seems like a living nightmare? Read on for solutions and advice from a career coach.

1. Assess the Situation (and Yourself)

There are a lot of different reasons why your new job may seem less than ideal. Perhaps your boss is a micromanager. Maybe your duties are different than what you'd thought they'd be. Or a client may have jumped ship, leaving you and your coworkers suddenly scrambling. Consider what's making you miserable before taking any kind of action.

Lynn Berger, a Manhattan-based career coach and counselor, agrees. "I think you have to really scope it out." She urges her clients, "See if there's any way you can take any self-responsibility for this. Also, ask yourself, is there a way you can grow from this? Maybe you've never worked for a boss with a particular personality type, but you may be able to deal with it over time and learn from it."

2. Open a Dialogue

If your supervisor seems happy with your performance while you're not happy in the position, it may be very easy to start a conversation about what's making you miserable. She may be willing to shift your responsibilities or provide you with additional support.

If your boss seems displeased, it can be a bit more difficult, says Berger, a member of the International Coach Federation. "You've still got to open a dialogue, and the earlier the better." She urges dissatisfied employees to talk to management, saying, "Get clear on what you need from them and what they need from you."

Are you without the proper tools and support to do your job? "Throw it out there to your boss and see if he will help. You have to let people know what you need," advises Berger, a graduate of Columbia University.

If you can't talk to your boss because she's the root of your problem, Berger says, "Check it out with other people you work with. Watch how they're handling this person. And if you find out from coworkers that everyone else who's had this position has been out of there in three months, that could be very revealing."

3. Patience Is a Virtue

When Berger works with clients who fear they've made a mistake in accepting a new job, she reminds them, "It takes three to six months until you're comfortable in a new job. There are going to be growing pains, especially if you haven't started a new job in a long time."

New job starters, she says, should be prepared for a bit of anxiety as they roll up their sleeves and dig in to a new position. "It's overwhelming! You're going to be exhausted and you need to give yourself room around that."

While you're ramping up, "Observe as much as you can and not only learn the job, but learn about the company and the way it works, the way things are done," she says. That can go a long way in helping you feel more comfortable.

4. If You Leave...

Do you still feel like you have to leave? Berger tells workers to ask themselves, "Is this a perceived nightmare or a real nightmare? If you're a victim of verbal or physical abuse at work, no one should have to live that way."

However, even if you're not subjected to those horrors, you may still feel as though you're in a nightmarish situation. If you feel you've given it time and your best efforts, you may choose to move on. "No one should feel tortured or sick over a job," concedes Berger.

When looking for another position, you can explain your brief time in this job by saying, "I realized early on this wasn't the right situation." Berger says that job seekers should make the experience seem as positive as they can. Also, she wants professionals to learn from their mistakes. Before accepting another offer, "Ask questions. Visit the company a few times. Speak with employees there. Make sure you understand the full scope of the position and what the day-to-day will be like."

"You never want to regret that you walked away from an opportunity too quickly," Berger says. "As long as you know you gave it your best shot and tried, that's what really counts."

IT'S OUR PRIDE!!!

Yahoo!! We are on the race. Three of our bests are on the top 7. So keep on voting for our very own wonders that are one of a kind. Check this out!

Last update 03-JUN-2008 04:00 GMT

( ) = yesterday's ranking

1.	(1)	Ha Long Bay	VIET NAM - Asia	Vote
2.	(2)	Cox's Bazar, Beach	BANGLADESH - Asia	Vote
3.	(3)	Tubbataha Reef	PHILIPPINES - Asia	Vote
4.	(4)	Chocolate Hills	PHILIPPINES - Asia	Vote
5.	(5)	Ganges, River	BANGLADESH/ INDIA - Asia	Vote
6.	(6)	Mount Everest, Mountain	NEPAL - Asia	Vote
7.	(8)	Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park	PHILIPPINES - Asia	Vote
8.	(7)	Amazon River, River/Forest	BOLIVIA/ BRAZIL/ COLOMBIA/ ECUADOR/ PERU/ VENEZUELA - South America	Vote
9.	(9)	Mount Fuji, Mountain	JAPAN - Asia	Vote
10.	(10)	Mayon Volcano	PHILIPPINES - Asia	Vote

So keep on voting and make our mama proud!

BE AWARE!!!!

Gmail archiving program is actually spyware

taken from Yahoo TEch Blog of Christopher Null

Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:38AM EDT

If you've used the G-Archiver program to back up your Gmail (aka Google Mail) email, you've got a headache on your hands. The program has been revealed to be a malicious spyware app that emails your Gmail username and password to a secret Gmail account.

This revelation is especially troubling because most Gmail users use a single Google account to access a wide range of services. Those with AdSense accounts or Google Checkout accounts could face severe financial losses if their Gmail password were to fall into the wrong hands.

G-Archiver is wholly unaffiliated with Google or Gmail and is the product of an independent developer. The revelation that G-Archiver was spyware emerged last week courtesy of programmer Dustin Brooks, who analyzed the source code to find a crude spyware system inside, complete with the name and password of the account to which G-Archiver sends all its victims' account information. He accessed that account and found thousands of records of usernames and passwords inside, including, of course, his own. (Brooks also deleted all those records and changed the password on the account by way of vigilante justice. Good man!)

Meanwhile, in what has to be the least credible excuse/explanation ever, G-Archiver has posted a notice on its website that the program was not spyware but rather that "a member of our development team had inserted coding used for testing G-Archiver in the debug version and forgot to delete it in the final release version." Uh, right...

G-Archiver's solution, however, is correct: If you have ever installed the program you should uninstall it and change your Google account password immediately. G-Archiver is so new that it probably will not show up in scans from most anti-spyware products yet.

As well, I probably needn't bother telling you that I don't recommend installing the upcoming new version of G-Archiver when it is released, even if the "flaw" is "corrected." Same goes for other sketchy third-party applications that promise to download messages from any webmail service... provided you give them your name and password. Not all are spyware, to be sure, but you should still tread lightly in this area.

GOT CAUGHT ON THIS!!

Teen Millionaire

Not so long ago, teen Ashley Qualls lived in a one-bedroom apartment with her mom and sister. But with her computer and savvy business sense she made a better life for all of them.

By KEVIN SITES, TUE OCT 30, 12:11 AM PDT

Ashley Qualls doesn't sound like a typical high school student. Maybe that's because the 17-year-old is the CEO of a million-dollar business.

Ashley is the head of whateverlife.com, a website she started when she was just 14 — with eight dollars borrowed from her mother. Now, just three years later, the website grosses more than $1 million a year, providing Ashley and her working class family a sense of security they had never really known.

This teenage CEO bought her family a 4-bedroom house and built herself an office in the basement.

It all started with capitalism 101, the law of supply and demand. Ashley became interested in graphic design just as the online social networking craze began to catch fire.

When she saw her friends personalizing their MySpace pages, she began creating and giving away MySpace background designs through Whateverlife. The designs are cheery, colorful and whimsical, with lots of hearts, Ashley's favorites.

She also pulled quotes from popular songs and built backgrounds around those themes. "Teenage girls love quotes," Ashley says, scrolling through some of her site's 3,000 designs, more than a third of which she made herself.

Thanks to Ashley's work ethic and savvy cultivation of her peer group as a target market, Whateverlife began pulling in more teenage girls than a Justin Timberlake concert - about a million a day. With a big audience, the site attracted advertisers. Ashley's first check was for $2,700. The next was for $5,000, the third for $10,000.

"OMG Robot" is one of the backgrounds designed by whateverlife.com

At the time, Ashley's parents were divorced. She and her little sister, Shelby, were all crammed into her mother's one-bedroom apartment.

When first the check arrived, her mother was doubtful, wondering if her daughter could really make money off a website. But Ashley was confident, telling her mother: "No, I really trust this. I think it's really gonna happen."

Ashley was right. The checks kept coming and the business kept growing-to the point where she could afford to buy a brand new four-bedroom house for them to live in. Ashley also hired her mother, Linda LaBrecque, to help manage the company.

"You know, when I'm with my friends, I'm still 17." — Ashley Qualls

It was and has been a bittersweet time for them both. "It's hard to be a mom and a manager," LaBrecque says. The roles clash every day, she says, but they manage by keeping a sense of humor.

She's proud of Ashley. Prior to starting the business, she says, her daughter was too shy to even order a pizza by phone. Now she's making presentations to business executives.

The job has also made LaBrecque's life easier, allowing her to quit her job and work from home following back surgery.

But Ashley's life has become much more complicated. When her business took off, the former straight-A student quit school to concentrate on Whateverlife.

"It's a busier schedule," Ashley says. "There's more to keep track of, whether its finances or employees and making sure everything is up to date and the content is secure."

Ashley has created background designs for songs by popular artists like Britney Spears.

This MySpace background design includes lyrics from the new Spears song "Gimme More."

In addition to her mom, Ashley hired three friends to help with the business, teaching them design and then requiring them to make a minimum of 25 designs a week.

Bre Newby says Ashley is a better boss than her past employers. "It's cool to have your best friend be like your boss," says Bre, "'cause she's a good boss. She's not like rude or it's not like working at McDonald's where you have like supervisors and people over you all the time."

Has the price of Ashley's business success been the loss of a part of her childhood? She doesn't think so.

"You know, when I'm with my friends, I'm still 17," she says.

But time with friends sometimes has to take a back seat to business. On a recent afternoon, her three friends drop by to hang out with Ashley, but they have to wait for her to finish with her business advisor, internet consultant Robb Lippitt.

Ashley and Robb sit on plastic chairs around a white conference table in Ashley's basement office, the walls decorated with hearts, like a Whateverlife background.

The conversation includes overtures from Hollywood and a possible deal to help promote Britney Spears's new album on Jive Records.

Ashley has even turned down a deal for her own reality television program. "I'm really stubborn, like my mom," she says, "So I know what I want from business. And I don't want that. I like my privacy. I like to hang out with my friends. I don't want cameras following me around."

For his part, Lippit says he had concerns about working with a teenager, but Ashley won him over in the first meeting. "She doesn't sit there and say, ‘I did something well-that's good enough,'" says Lippit. He says Ashley knows, without being told, that she needs to keep developing her business, or it will stop growing.

Unlike many adults, Ashley has not succumbed to the temptations that new wealth can bring. She pays herself a modest salary of $3,000 a month. Aside from the house, she hasn't made any other major purchases.

"I don't even know how to put this," says Ashley, "But it's just kind of like the shiny feeling that when you have this money, it kind of goes away after a while. It gets old, you know. Yeah, I can go out and buy you know something really cool. But at the same time I mean I don't really need too much. I like to invest it back into the business."

Despite all her success, one thing that has eluded her - something most of her friends already have - is a driver's license.

"My mom does drive me. And then my friends drive me wherever we go," she says, "And I want to drive. Believe me. But it's just been kind of crazy lately."

It may be the one thing about Ashley's life that reminds you she really IS still a teenager.

-Producer: Jamie Rubin

-Editor: Steve Nielson

True or False: 10 Common Travel Beliefs

Have you heard that New Yorkers are rude, London is rainy, and China is just a shovel away? Here, the truth behind travel rumors

The Rumor: London is always gray and rainy, and the food is terrible.

The Truth: "In terms of rainfall, it's actually low on the list," says Nicole Mitchell, a Weather Channel meteorologist. (The statistics: London gets 23 inches a year, while, on average, supposedly sunny Miami gets a whopping 60 and soggy Seattle gets 39.) "Because London is coastal, it gets drizzly during the winter. But, as with any place, you have to pick the right time to visit," says Mitchell. (She recommends the summer, when it's warmer and sunnier.) And as for the local fare, it has come a long way since the days of ubiquitous bangers and mash. "There was a time when English food was, by definition, bad food, but that reputation is about 10 years out of date," says Tim Zagat, a cofounder of Zagat Survey, a publisher of international restaurant guides. "Now it is one of the best places in the world to eat." (The turnaround is due in part to the increased availability of fresh ingredients.)

The Rumor: It is rude to make eye contact during conversation in Japan.

The Truth: In the Land of the Rising Sun, do not avert your gaze just yet. "That used to be the rule, back in the old days, during the Meiji and Taisho eras (the late 1800s and early 1900s)," explains Robert Whiting, a Japanese-culture expert and the author of "The Samurai Way of Baseball." "It was considered disrespectful, especially when talking to a superior." These days, however, "people in Japan act just like people in the West. Not making eye contact would be considered a bit odd when talking to someone, even the emperor," says Whiting.

The Rumor: Venice is sinking.

The Truth: Not so much, says Fabio Carrera, a native of Venice and a professor of urban studies and planning at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in Massachusetts. If by sinking you mean that the land is going under and losing elevation, then, no, that is no longer true," says Carrera. Once upon a time — from around 1900 up until the 1970s — Venice did dip deeper into the water, by nearly five inches, because the aquifer beneath it was being drained to provide water to the mainland. "When people realized what was happening, they stopped pumping water out, and Venice rebounded by about half an inch," says Carrera.

Still, the city is not totally out of hot water. Thanks to global warming and rising sea levels, Venice — along with other low-lying locales, like New Orleans — remains vulnerable to flooding. But as long as it stays one step ahead of the problem by incorporating preventive measures, like the underwater floodgates currently being constructed, Venice should be the home of many a piazza (and pigeon) for years to come.

The Rumor: New Yorkers are rude.

The Truth: Fuhgeddaboudit! "It's absolutely false that New Yorkers are unfriendly — they may seem standoffish at first, but that's just concealing a very big heart," insists Ed Koch, a former New York mayor and a quintessential New Yorker. (Hey, someone who appeared in "The Muppets Take Manhattan" should know.) So what is with the gruff exterior, then? Call it a coping mechanism for living in a city of more than 8 million people. "We believe that people want their own space, so we don't intrude unless asked for assistance. But if you're visiting from out of town, just walk over to any New Yorker and he'll immediately help you out," says Koch. And rather than feeling upset about a brusque cab driver or a bagel guy who seems to toss your change at you, remember that they are just trying to keep the wheels in motion. "People here want to help you get on with your day!" says Koch.

The Rumor: Afternoon thunderstorms in Florida always pass within an hour.

The Truth: "This does not always happen, but a lot of storms are pretty quick," says meteorologist Nicole Mitchell. "In the heat of the afternoon, there is enough of a contrast between the slightly cooler ocean air temperature and the warmer air temperature over land to trigger storms," she says. "By late afternoon, there is less of a contrast and you lose the trigger for the storms, so they start dying out." And Florida is not the only place you should keep an umbrella handy. Mitchell says the same conditions exist up and down the Gulf Coast, making the weather in places such as Biloxi, Miss.; Mobile, Ala.; and New Orleans equally erratic.

The Rumor: South of the equator, toilet water swirls in the opposite direction.

The Truth: This one goes straight down the commode. Wondering where that crackpot theory originated? "South of the equator, tornadoes go clockwise, while north of the equator, they go counterclockwise, because of the earth's rotation and something called Coriolis force. In principle, the same would happen to water in a toilet or a bath," explains Michael Goodchild, a professor of geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a 2007 recipient of the field's highest honor, the Prix Vautrin Lud. "But the effect of Coriolis force on a small scale is very weak and outweighed by other forces, like the relative positions of the inlet faucet and the plug hole."

The Rumor: The Leaning Tower of Pisa will eventually topple over.

The Truth: It seems inevitable that the tilting medieval bell tower will take a dive someday. But the structure, which developed its famous wonky posture when its foundation settled into the soft ground beneath it, is actually on surprisingly solid footing. About 10 years ago, the base of the tower was reinforced with a combination of concrete and other bracing methods, decreasing the lean by 17 inches to 13 feet 6 inches. "It was the culmination of years of work and planning — the new foundation will last indefinitely," says Donald Friedman, a structural engineer at Old Structures Engineering, in New York City. "It is not going to tip. Now it has the heaviest foundation of anything in that whole city!"

The Rumor: In Russia, locally made vodka is cheaper than water.

The Truth: The answer is a flat-out nyet, says Paul Richardson, who has visited the country more than 20 times and is the publisher of Russian Life magazine. While locally made vodka can be nearly half as cheap in Russia as the imported stuff we buy here — prices start at around $2 a bottle in Moscow — it still outprices water by a long shot.

The Rumor: If you dug a hole straight through the Earth, you would probably make it to China.

The Truth: "It depends on where you start out," says author Michael Goodchild. "If you dug through the center of the Earth, you would emerge at a point opposite to where you started," he says. "Most of the time, if you started from land, you would end in water. But you would end up in China if you started digging in northern Chile." Oh yeah, there is one more little catch. Says Goodchild, "You would need a machine that could form a tunnel through liquid metal at a temperature of around 5,000 degrees." Um, try eBay?

The Rumor: There is a top-secret city beneath Disneyland.

The Truth: Legend has it that there's a top-secret command center under the theme park in Anaheim, Calif., but, alas, not even a wave of Tinker Bell's wand could make this a reality. "There is not much under there — certainly not a city," says Bob Sehlinger, who has visited the park hundreds of times over the past 20 years and recently wrote "The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland 2008." It is very likely that this rumor stems from a case of mistaken identity. As it turns out, sister amusement park Disney World, in Orlando, Fla., does have a subterranean setup of sorts, though it is not quite a metropolis. "In Disney World, there is something called utilidors — Disney-speak for a huge system of tunnels under the park, which allow costumed cast members to scurry underneath the property," explains Sehlinger.

Stop Pumping Gas: Ten Hot Home Office Jobs

he by Joe Taylor Jr.

With fuel prices topping four dollars per gallon in some states, many Americans want to keep their paychecks in their pockets and out of their gas tanks. Thanks to cheap Internet access and fast computers, some workers can perform their jobs just as well from home as they can in the office. Government analysts recently identified ten fast-growing jobs that combine higher-than-average hourly wages with the benefits of working from home.

#1: Administrative Services Manager

Traditionally, administrative services managers oversee large support staffs in offices such as hospitals and law firms. As larger employers consolidate responsibilities for multiple locations into a handful of positions, more administrative services managers have earned the option to work some or all of their hours from a home office. Earning an associate's or bachelor's degree in business can help you gain the skills necessary for this managerial telecommuting job that often pays more than $30 per hour.

#2: Computer Systems Analyst

These information technology professionals help companies design state-of-the-art systems to run businesses. As employers use telecommuting jobs as a key strategy in their recruitment efforts, computer systems analysts often test new ideas at their own home offices. Learning about tools like virtual private network (VPN), video chat, and virtual desktops during a computer science degree program can help qualify graduates for home-based jobs that pay over $30 per hour.

#3: Database Manager

All kinds of companies rely on databases, from mom-and-pop service organizations to global retailers. Because most databases can be maintained from any live Internet connection, a growing number of database managers work remotely over secure, private networks. Though some database managers earn salaries from large employers, specialists with business degrees and computer training can earn over $30 an hour working from home as freelance database specialists.

#4: Public Relations Specialist

Because most public relations tasks involve phone or email, many PR specialists enjoy working from home at least a few days per week. With a bachelor's degree in communications, an office veteran can transition to a home-based job writing press releases and responding to media requests. Experienced PR professionals can complete online business training programs to launch their own practices as freelancers in home offices. In both cases, public relations specialists frequently earn more than $22 per hour.

#5: Paralegal

As more Americans seek quality legal representation, many law firms rely more heavily on paralegals for research assignments and routine tasks. Unlike lawyers, who must complete law school and pass a state bar exam, paralegals can start assisting on cases after completing an associate's degree program. Some law firms prefer to hire telecommuting paralegals to avoid adding office space. Other employers like the flexibility of bringing on temporary paralegals to cover sudden spikes in their caseloads. In both cases, many home-based paralegals earn over $20 an hour.

#6: Probation Officer

With many state governments trying to balance crowded jails with increased prosecution, many local agencies seek home-based probation officers.While the job often includes making site visits, many probation officers spend a significant portion of time on the phone or on email from home offices. With a bachelor's degree in social work, an experienced security professional can transition to this home-based career that offers a typical salary of $20 per hour plus government benefits.

#7: Web Design Professional

Early Web designers often received criticism for being teenagers working from home in their parents' attics. However, today's most successful Web design professionals enjoy home offices that boast high-speed Internet connections and fast workstations. Earning over $20 per hour as a home-based Web designer requires design skill, programming prowess, and a solid career portfolio. Most novice designers pick up all three of these success ingredients during Web design degree programs, many of which are available online.

#8: Desktop Publisher

Just as small businesses rely on public relations professionals to tell their stories, company owners look to desktop publishing professionals to make their stories look good in print. Advanced publishing tools now make it possible for desktop publishers to work from home, often earning over $20 as freelancers or in staff positions. Advanced training courses in graphic design and desktop publishing help these specialists retain the cutting-edge skills that help build strong client rosters.

#9: Medical Transcriptionist

As many doctors' offices and health care facilities struggle to meet the demands of increased patient loads, home-based medical transcriptionists ride to the rescue. By leveraging skills gained in campus-based or online medical transcription training programs, these specialists can earn $14 or more per hour without leaving home. In many cases, agencies or employers also cover the costs of computers and Internet connections for efficient transcriptionists.

#10: Virtual Assistant

Bootstrapping a business in today's economy often requires creative thinking. Some of the most creative and successful professionals in consulting, real estate, and health care have realized that they can reap the benefits of having full-time administrative assistance without the costs of expanding their own offices. Virtual assistants provide high-end secretarial tasks on demand for clients, usually from home offices. Completing an online training course is often the first step toward an essential work-from-home job that pays $13 or more per hour.