Admit it: you love Facebook. And MySpace. Maybe you have a blog, or you comment on one. Blogs and social networking sites are a great way to keep in touch with friends and family, post pictures and pontificate on your latest drama.

But who ELSE is keeping track of your online persona?

Well, for one, your future employer. By now you’ve probably heard that many HR people head straight to Facebook or MySpace after that big interview you thought you nailed. Maybe you never got around to removing “getting wasted” from your interests, or de-tagging that picture of you with a cigarette in one had and a drink in the other. Things like these are warning signs to future bosses–if they think you spend most of your time drinking and smoking, they’re going to wonder whether or not it will affect your job performance.

What about a work blog? My friend, lets call her…Jonie, kept a blog while working as an assistant for a crazy financial guy. It was juicy and hilarious and a great read and…she got caught. She didn’t get fired, but she pretty much had to resign soon after. She never used her own name on the blog, nor did she use her boss’s name or the company’s information. But somehow her boss got a hold of the link, and he knew right away who it was about. Busted, big time. Read More »

A few days ago, I began my research into the often frightening and very often misunderstood word known as recession. In this episode, we continue to unlock the fiscal mystery that seems to have our country in a headlock…

Why is everyone talking about taxes?

Taxes are a way that the government can inject money back into the economy.

A way of reversing the chain—you buy something at a store= store owner buys something at another store= etc.

President Bush and Senator McCain believe that continuing the current economic trajectory with regards to taxes is the proper response. They feel that this is all merely an economic downturn, — not the R-word.

Both Senators Obama and Clinton call for tax reform in the form of restructuring the system – placing the burden of taxes upon the upper echelon of people and giving more breaks to the middle and lower classes.

While the politicians continue their debate over tax cuts/ breaks/ rebates/ and whether the term recession should be employed, you and I are daily facing the economic reality—whatever you choose to call it. Read More »

When I came to college, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my future. So, being young and naïve I decided to major in English. My thought process: an English degree can get me into any grad program and basically get me any job I would ever want.

Turns out, I made a big (HUGE) mistake.

According to recent stats by some important people at the Wall Street Journal, a major in liberal arts is…well, worthless.

OK, maybe not worthless, but definitely not nearly as valuable as majoring something a little more 21st century. Just check out these stats for first year earnings in various fields:

Accounting: $46,000

Consulting: $47,000

Aerospace: $54,000

Engineering: $49,000

Retail: $34,000

Education: $30,000

Journalism: $23,000

Depressing, right? Well, it doesn’t have to be. Read More »

I love pretty little things.

I really love pretty little things with a purpose. So imagine my glee when I happened upon the adorably named Moo.com, a website dedicated to “printing things from your stuff”.

Although the crafty folks at Moo will make lots of cute stuff from your uploaded pictures, my favorite product of theirs are the MiniCards.

For $20 you get 100 colorful mini cards (about half the size of a normal calling card) packed in a reusable plastic box. They can make the cards look nice for you, or you can pretty them up yourself with up to 100 different images. With six lines of available text on the back, these adorable little information holders are my new must haves. Read More »

I have had many an internship, so I know a sweet deal when I see one. And Trevor, the Mentos intern, has just about the best gig one can procure.

Trevor’s “internly” duties don’t consist of mailing packages, running errands, getting coffee or database entry but rather whatever the public demands.

Yes, you too can tell Trevor what to do. And then watch him do it. Feel like doing a little bit of mid-day office yoga? Become a yogini along with Trevor every day at one. Bored and feel like chatting? Call Trevor up, his phone number and email are on the website. Read More »

Summer — a time for barbeques, trips to the beach, and some serious drinking. So where the hell does waking up at the crack of dawn fit in?

Not long ago, 1 p.m. was an acceptable hour for me to drag myself out of bed. My roommate would often upstage my extreme sleeping habits by dozing into the late afternoon. We would shudder collectively at the thought of waking up at the extreme early morning hour of 10 a.m.

However, as soon as the summer began and I moved back to a land free of all nighters in the study lounge, loud parties across the hall, and most importantly, the incessant overbearing stress of school, I began to wake up at 7 a.m. on a daily basis for my internship and job.

I’m not going to pretend it was easy. The first few days the morning sun burned my eyes and I had to physically throw myself out of bed. I cursed myself for having responsibilities and stumbled around my house like a wounded animal. It wasn’t a pretty sight.

Despite this rocky start, it wasn’t long before I began to recognize the many benefits of rising at a decent hour:

Breakfast: Let’s get real. Breakfast food is some of the best stuff out there. Bagels, pancakes, cereal, fruit- it doesn’t get much better than that. Having time to actually eat it is a precious opportunity. Not only is breakfast food delicious, it’s part of a nutritionally balanced diet. Read More »

Yesterday was my last day of classes– at 3:15 p.m., the year was over. Kind of. My professor thought it was, at least– he bid us adieu by saying, “Okay, then! Have a nice life!”

I wish. Regretfully, my life cannot really start until after this professor’s 3 hour, 3 essay final exam in two weeks.

If we were in grade school, we would be eating popsicles and going down the slip and slide right now. But for us, it is when classes end that the work really begins with finals. Perhaps the system could benefit from some reorganization, no? Springtime finals are just begging for you to fail them.

Sometimes, in order to escape finals purgatory, I daydream about the future, when I’m out of college and have a really sweet job doing something really cool for a ton of money. But then I came across this article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Read More »