It's hard to find anyone who doesn't think a vacation is a good thing. Beyond getting to explore different parts of the country or the world, vacations have been shown to improve mental health, prevent job burnout and even enhance creativity. Yet if you're guilty of ending the year without using most of your...

If you're a job seeker, you don't need to be told that it's a tough job market out there. You're experiencing it. You know you're competing with a lot of other qualified candidates, and it's difficult to stand out to employers. Yet the surprising thing is that many companies are having trouble filling...

When you ask children what they want to be when they grow up, a common answer is "doctor." But when those children grow up, many find those dreams shift to another field in healthcare as they learn doctor is just one of many career paths. With the aging boomers, the health-care field is growing fast. The Bureau...

Demographics shape career choices in all kinds of subtle ways. Research has examined the effect of gender and geography on career choice. But what about age? In his book "150 Best Jobs for a Secure Future," author Laurence Shatkin, Ph.D., shares some of the most secure jobs by demographic -- jobs that tend to...

As the days get longer and the weather warmer, many yearn to leave the constraints of their offices or cubicles and enjoy the outdoors. But if you're unemployed during the summer months, chances are you'd be happy to trade in the open spaces for the office.

College students pick their majors for any number of reasons - interest in a particular field of study, ability to get a job post-graduation, amount of education or training needed, and more. Another factor students often consider is how much they might earn once they enter the workforce. While it's hard to...

According to a 2010 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, 73 percent of polled HR professionals said their company, or an agency hired by their company, conducted criminal background checks for all job candidates. That you may receive a background check upon applying for a job isn't noteworthy,...

If you had a time machine, would you travel into the future to see what's in store for you 10, 20 or 30 years from now? Or would you rather travel back in time, perhaps right after college graduation, to fix a mistake you made or take another path in life?

References are often the last step in the screening process before an employer extends an offer. While every company has a different policy on references, most still ask for them. What a reference says, or doesn't say, can sometimes make the difference between getting an offer or not.