Worklife

Do you shop online while you're at work?

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:19:28 GMT

Your boss thinks you’re hammering away at that important proposal due next week. In reality? You’re clicking through Amazon.com, getting a head start on your holiday shopping.

According to a new survey by CareerBuilder.com, nearly one-third of workers (29 percent) plan to holiday shop online while at work this year. But buyer beware: Half of employees report they monitor the use of employees.

The survey was conducted Aug. 21-Sept. 9 among more than 5,600 U.S. workers and more than 3,000 hiring managers and human resources professionals.

Cyber Monday

Seasonal online shopping is expected to ramp up on Cyber Monday — a term coined by the National Retail Federation for the first Monday following Thanksgiving — and productivity in the workplace is sure to be impacted. Of those who plan to shop online while at work this season, 43 percent of workers anticipate spending more than one hour, 23 percent said they will spend two hours or more, and 13 percent will spend three hours or more.

"While employers are unlikely to terminate workers for online holiday shopping during the workday, employees should proactively police their personal Internet usage," said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder.com. "In addition, employees need to be aware of company Internet policies, as more than a quarter of employers surveyed monitor workers’ time spent online and sites visited. Employees can then determine if it is best to designate their lunch hour or break times for online holiday shopping."

Other findings:

• 61 percent of workers use the Internet for non-work related research and activities while they are at work. Among these workers, 37 percent said they spend an average of more than 30 minutes of their workday on non-work related online activities; 18 percent said they spend an average of an hour or more.

• 20 percent of workers send six or more non-work related e-mails per day. Among this group, 22 percent spend more than 30 minutes during the typical workday doing so.

• 9 percent of workers surveyed have a personal blog, and 23 percent of them spend time blogging at work.

• 41 percent of workers surveyed have a MySpace, Facebook or other social networking page; 35 percent of them spend time on their social networking page during the workday.

Source: PRNewswire, CareerBuilder.com

Favorite TV Work Couples — plus, do you have a work spouse?

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:41:00 GMT

PRNewswire

Do you feel like you’re married to your job? How about to your co-worker? According to a recent CareerBuilder.com survey, one in 10 workers said they feel like they have a work spouse — someone whom they are not married to but feel like they are married to at the office.

Among these workers who are married, 20 percent reported that their actual spouse or significant other gets jealous of their platonic work spouse. Another 17 percent said they had to compromise something at the office to protect their work spouse.

The survey includes more than 6,194 workers nationwide.

Favorite TV Work Couples
When asked to identify their favorite platonic TV work couple, workers provided the following ranking:

1. Regis and Kelly
2. David Letterman and Paul Shaffer
3. Jay Leno and Kevin Eubanks
4. Meredith Vieira and Matt Lauer
5. Howard Stern and Robin Quivers
6. Judge Judy and Petri Byrd
7. Conan O’Brien and Max Weinberg
8. The Ladies of The View
9. Diane Sawyer and Chris Cuomo
10. Jimmy Kimmel and Guillermo Diaz
11. Harry Smith and Julie Chen
12. Billy Bush and Nancy O’Dell

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 6,194 employees (employed full-time; not self-employed) between Aug. 21 and Sept. 9.

Weird Jobs from A to Z: What was your weirdest job?

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:30:27 GMT

PRNewswire

What’s the weirdest job you’ve ever had? Weird, strange, unusual, off-beat, notable, peculiar ... We want to know.

As an increasing television spotlight is shone on unique jobs — from the toughest and dirtiest — CareerBuilder.com has announced its most unusual job survey results. More than 8,700 workers revealed the most unconventional jobs they’ve held during their careers. This year’s top picks are, for every letter of the alphabet:

A — Autopsy assistant
B — Bartender at the Liberace mansion
C — Cat nanny
D — Donkey trainer
E — Elf at Santa’s workshop
F — FBI fingerprint examiner
G — Grave digger
H — Hurricane hunter
I — Ice sculpture carver
J — Junk mail machine operator
K — Kitty litter box decorator
L — Laser tag referee
M — Magician’s assistant
N — Nuclear electrician on a submarine
O — Opera singer
P — Parachute tester
Q — Quality control/taster for chocolate factory
R — Romance specialist
S — Scratcher (scratched backs for patients)
T — Turkey wrangler
U — Undercover vice decoy
V — Video game tester
W — Wallpaper peeler
X — X-ray technician for zoo animals
Y — Yawn counter at a sleep clinic
Z — Zamboni driver

(This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 8,785 employees between May 22 and June 13.)

So what weird jobs have you had in your career? Better yet, anyone highly qualified for one of the weird jobs above?

Bad Jobs: Part 2

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:29:30 GMT

Stories by Dan Zak, Washington Post

We started the month with Labor Day weekend, and we paused to think about work. Now, halfway through the month, let’s pause to think about people whose work attracts the suspicion, dismissal or loathing of the general public:
• The auditor — pickpocketing our hard-earned money.
• The used-car salesman — passive-aggressive liar with a glinting Rolex.
• The criminal defense attorney — slimeball in a suit, standing up for nefarious creatures.
• The ballpark umpire — blind, deaf, clearly on the other team’s payroll.
• The parking enforcement officer — "For the love of God, $40 for going two minutes over the meter?!"

Prejudiced generalizations, surely. Auditors and umpires are merely convenient targets for our personal frustrations. Car salesmen and defense attorneys are stock villains in pop culture, not necessarily bad guys in real life. And without parking enforcement, our streets would be jammed with scofflaws’ cars.

So this week on the WorkLife weblog, we’re going to appreciate their work and the nonsense they have to put up with by virtue of their titles. Click here to read about a parking enforcement officer. Scroll down to read about an IRS auditor and used-care salesmen. Next week, look for profiles of a criminal defense attorney and a baseball umpire.

———-

The IRS Auditor

WASHINGTON — Jennifer Abbott, 31, is an Internal Revenue Service agent, a title that may only seem intimidating until you learn that, yes, in fact, she breaks into people’s houses to eyeball their financial records. Well, not "breaks into." More like "calls up and politely inquires if she can stop by the house to chat about tax returns, thanks!"

Bad Jobs: Q&As with the people who have them

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:01:21 GMT

Stories by Dan Zak, Washington Post

• The auditor — pickpocketing our hard-earned money.
• The used-car salesman — passive-aggressive liar with a glinting Rolex.
• The criminal defense attorney — slimeball in a suit, standing up for nefarious creatures.
• The ballpark umpire — blind, deaf, clearly on the other team’s payroll.
• The parking enforcement officer — "For the love of God, $40 for going two minutes over the meter?!"

So this week on the WorkLife weblog, we’re going to appreciate their work and the nonsense they have to put up with by virtue of their titles. Today, read about a parking enforcement officer. Tomorrow, an IRS auditor. Friday, a used-car salesmen. Next week, look for profiles of a criminal defense attorney and a baseball umpire.

-------

WASHINGTON — Cheryl Wilkins, 42, walks her beat like a regular cop. She knows the neighborhood’s faces and cars. Residents have invited her in for meals and turned to her to solve certain mysteries. She’s all smiles, but she means business: She will ticket your car if you’re one minute over the parking limit. Furious drivers have hurled every kind of invective at her, but the law’s the law. Her job is to enforce it.

Sign on cubicle: No Solicitors Allowed?

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:15:08 GMT

Back to school, back to business. The fundraisers have begun!

Right now my daughter is selling stuff in two separate fundraisers. The neighbor kids are selling stuff. I’m pretty sure coworkers’ kids are selling stuff. And I’m also pretty sure that all this selling will continue through spring. I predict I will have purchased pies, magazines, popcorn, pocket peeler coupon books, spring bulbs, wreaths, wrapping paper, ornaments, and a whole lot more by Christmas.

So I ask, as a parent who is selling stuff on behalf of my child and her school: Does it drive you absolutely crazy when coworkers bring all these fundraisers into work? Does your workplace allow it? Are you happy to peruse the various catalogs and place orders? Or would you rather colleagues left all the order forms at home?

What Olympic sport most represents your job?

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:43:41 GMT

PRNewswire.com

Only a handful of people can claim their current job as an Olympic athlete, but that doesn’t stop ordinary workers from dreaming about it. CareerBuilder.com, in a recent survey, asked 7,960 U.S. workers which of the Summer Olympic sports they would most want to compete in and win a gold medal. Workers said:

• Swimming (37 percent)
• Baseball/softball (29 percent)
• Gymnastics (26 percent)
• Track and field (23 percent)
• Volleyball (23 percent)
• Cycling (20 percent)
• Basketball (19 percent)
• Soccer (19 percent)

CareerBuilder.com also asked workers which Summer Olympic sport most represents their current jobs. They said:

• Volleyball: It’s a team sport (20 percent)
• Hurdles: There are a lot of obstacles in the way (14 percent)
• Marathon: Slow and steady (13 percent)
• Wrestling: I feel like I am in a holding pattern (11 percent)
• Weightlifting: I’m bearing all the weight (8 percent)
• Synchronized swimming: My co-workers and I are all on the same page (7 percent)

By the way, 12 percent of workers surveyed plan to watch at least some of the Olympics while they are at work.

What Summer Olympic sport is most like your current job? And why?