By Ed Orum for AOL Find a Job

It was a drive I had done many times before - home to office, office to home - but this time was different. I had just been laid off from my job, and I knew I wouldn't be back. HR didn't ask for my keys or badge, but I felt strangely disconnected from a place that once served as my home away from home.

As I walked along the row of my colleagues' cars, I looked at their names, labeled on a sign above each spot. Some I would keep in touch with, others I would probably never see again. I wondered why they had escaped my fate. A pair of blank signs reminded me of the two who were cut a few months before me. Back then, I felt lucky. Today, I felt sorry for myself.

By Ed Orum

It's impossible to forget such a game-changing day. I was a high paid journalist at a prestigious publication, and had worked hard to get there. Sometimes, my job seemed too good to be true - it was fun, exciting and different every day. This day was very different, though - within seconds of my arrival at my desk, I was greeted by my boss. This was odd, because we hardly ever interacted. Most of my communication was with my executive editor, who took care of everyday tasks including assignments, vacation time and special projects.


"Do you have a minute?," she asked. Of course, I work for you.

"Sure."

"Okay, come with me."

By Tiffany Miller

Studies have often ranked the fear of public speaking ahead of death, making the job of a television news reporter unfathomable to most. Still, it's a career glamorized by thousands of journalism students.

The school year is spent learning the craft. The summers taking unpaid internships to fill an empty resume. Somewhere along the way students make a reel, showcasing their talents on camera.

Only a few lucky graduates actually make it into the newsroom.

Jonathan Bender, AOL Find a Job

Brian French was nearly crushed to death by a trash collection truck during a routine garbage run last winter. French was forced to react much faster than anyone should ever have to at 4 a.m. "I hopped over the hood of a parked car and slid off the side. I was lucky," says French, a sanitation worker of five years.

French had just stepped a few feet off the curb into the street with four oversized black trash bags in his hands. The driver had been blocking a driveway, and when he backed up to allow someone out, he failed to notice that French was walking towards the back of the garbage truck.

'Fatherly' Advice on How Online Learning Can Help You Break Into One

by Ysolt Usigan

Attendance and participation during parents' days at school... Lending a helping hand on homework activities such as making a 40-foot-long map of the solar system... Reading with your kids after school and before bed time... Vacations, road trips and day outings... How can any professional partake of all the joys and responsibilities of being a parent and still advance in a demanding job? Many have grappled with this question, so we asked three dads how they manage their parental priorities with challenging positions.

Read on for their advice on how eLearning helped pave the way to landing a family-friendly career.