Q&A with Howard Mittman, VP and Publisher of WIRED on the company’s media alliance partnership with Monster.com.

Tweet
Small business owners need serious cash to get their ideas off the ground. Which type of small business financing is right for you?
We asked a group of entrepreneurs who have …

Tweet
What is the forecast for staffing industry in the year ahead?
In a word(s): The “big squeeze” in the staffing industry will continue in 2012 as clients maintain downward pressure on …

Tweet
One of the most common questions in the job search and interviewing world is “Why didn’t I get the job!?” To many, rejection causes their job search to stall. Some, …

What are you worth to an employer? Quick, come up with a number. OK. Now, let’s come up with a realistic number. Negotiating salary is, for most of us, as difficult as getting past phone screens and interviews to the job offer. It can be tough to think of yourself in dollar terms. If you’re not prepared to negotiate, you’re sure to be unhappy with almost any offer. So don’t be caught flat-footed.

Erase the phrase “it’s just a job” from your vocabulary. Putting minimal effort into a job is only doing you a disservice. Even the smallest job should be treated as if it is a stepping stone to something else… because it might be! Every job has the chance to wow someone, to lead to an amazing recommendation or to expand your network.

I have come across certain people who have tweeted nothing but their offerings and wares. Recruiters, you’re as guilty as anyone – I get that you’re posting a job, but why not at least attempt to converse with someone who may be a candidate rather than turn everything you post into a classifieds section? I don’t get it. Why are you on social media if you clearly don’t want to be social? Because that, my friend, is not social media. That’s advertising. And it’s frowned upon.

The key to personal branding, like any good marketing, means telling a story, but things like personal websites, Twitter profiles and Facebook pages are just the beginning. Every story needs a middle and an end. To get to the happy ending of a successful job search, however, means finding that middle ground between personal objectives and professional experience. While your story should be written with an external audience in mind, selling yourself externally requires looking internally.

The economic realities of the holiday season, for those of us struggling to make ends meet or to find a job, makes it difficult to be grateful. When you’re in survival mode, it’s pretty tough to step back and reflect. So, should we be grateful for a job these days, or merely relieved? Should we express that gratitude to a boss? And if we do, will it be viewed as sucking up?