Is Job-Hunting on the Job a No-No?

Rumors of staff lay-offs are whispering through the hallways of your office. If you were smart, you know you'd start putting a few feelers out for another job now -- maybe send out your resume, search some online job boards.

Maybe you don't have a computer at home, so using the internet to cruise for possibilities is only possible when you're at work. Maybe you don't want to waste any time.

But is it OK to conduct a job search at your desk, during office hours?

Here are two points of view.

10 Most Blocked Web Sites at Work

Companies who block employee access to certain web sites may think they're forcing workers to be more productive, but in reality they're only creating resentment, which results in the employee having no particular loyalty to the employer.

Besides, these days most people have devices that allow them to check personal e-mail and web sites without using their desk computer, so how much "time-wasting" do employers really think they're preventing?

Employers aren't stopping to think that their most talented people might like or need the occasional access to these sites, and that their work product wouldn't necessarily suffer as a result. Do companies really want to risk losing their best people over the occasional Facebook update? Top talent is usually smart enough to realize when they're being treated like children, and smart enough to go where they'll be best rewarded, not just monetarily, but in overall treatment.

Curious about which web sites are most blocked by employers? Check out the top ten here.

Software Troubles? Carol to the Rescue!

We'd like to introduce you to Carol Bratt. Carol is a certified Microsoft Office specialist, and her mission is to provide a life raft to workers like you, navigating the sometimes rocky seas of Microsoft Office. She offers various educational products to help you learn more about Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, Power Point or Publisher.

Due to firms trimming their staffs, some of you may find yourselves having to take on responsibilities that once belonged to someone recently departed -- responsibilities that require software know-how you don't have. Do you find yourself suddenly plopped in front of Excel spreadsheets, and you have no idea how to use them? Or do you now need to understand mail merges, when you never had a call to use them before? Investing in some learning tools can reduce your panic and boost your confidence more quickly than you may have imagined.

Visit Carol's Corner Office for more information. And be sure to sign up for her free monthly Word Bytes Newsletter!

Should MySpace & Facebook be Banned at Work?

Some people argue that blocking the use of social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook at work is a good idea, because in theory it would prevent employees from wasting their time.

But could such bans backfire on employers and be worse for them in the long run?

Read more.

Careful What You Blog -- The Boss is Reading

Do you blog about your employer, or your boss? Be careful, there. Your boss can fire you for any reason -- and the First Amendment isn't going to protect you. Read more.

Online Games that are Easier to Play at Work

Wish you could play some online games at work, ay? But you know those flashy game screens will inevitably draw attention to themselves. That's all that busybody brown-noser around the corner needs to see -- she'll be reporting you for playing games at work before you can say "Pogo".

This blogger knows a way to play that's much less conspicuous.

Post Your Resume, Get Spammed

A Just A Sec Exclusive!

When you post your resume on well-know job sites, you may or may not get a job – but you’ll definitely get spammed.

We noticed after we posted our resumes on job sites, we’d get in-boxes full of spam. And some of the dumbest spam we’ve ever seen, too.

Were the job sites really the source of our spam? And if so, which sites? Who was the worst spammer? We decided to get an answer.

We set up a fake resume for a secretary named “Justine” on Monster, Hot Jobs and Career Builder. We made Justine a secretary with very little experience, and we littered her resume with typos. In other words, she wasn’t likely to attract many legitimate job offers. We also set up three separate e-mail accounts corresponding with the three sites, and monitored them for two weeks.

Here’s what we learned.

Career Builder: The MOST Spam.

We received 6 different items of pure spam within two weeks. The first spam e-mail arrived within 24 hours of posting Justine’s resume.

Our favorite:

- From “Roger Smith”: “I am the Chief Executive Officer of National Income Life. I recently found your resume online and wanted to get in touch with you. We are expanding our sales force…we believe you have the potential to be an excellent match.”

Me? Justine?! You wanted to get in touch with lil’ ol’ ME? And…and you believe in my potential? Shucks, I oughta misspell secrtary and unvistity on every resume I post! Who knew I was such a hot property?

Oh, and there was this one:

“GREETINGS, I AM SSG LAPEINE WITH THE US ARMY…We are currently searching for people to fill over 150 different career field IN THE ARMY. You must be willing to join the United States Army to get one of these career field.”

Considering who our president is, we’re not surprised by the atrocious grammar. But wow, you should see the list of exciting careers you can train for in the army! Just one question: does your health insurance kick in before or after you get your head blown off in Baghdad?


Hot Jobs: The FASTEST Spam.

Hot Jobs comes in a close second for the most spam, with 5 items within two weeks. However, they had the fastest delivery. We got our first spam e-mail within just 12 hours of posting Justine’s resume.

Our favorites:

- Subject line “An Electrician Apprentice job is now open.”
- Subject line “Interested in working as an Architect?”

Justine has no job experience or education that would indicate she’d be even remotely interested in these careers. Sure, it’s possible she harbors some secret desire to be an architect with an electrical background, but chances are these e-mails are just going to be annoyances for most people.


Monster: The Least & Slowest Spam.

Monster delivered 2 items of spam within two weeks. And they took four days to send us the first one. But still – they spammed us.

Our favorite:

From “Sabrina Lloyd”: “…I am a State Director for National Income Life. I saw your resume on the internet and felt that I should contact you immediately. Our company currently has openings for several outstanding individuals like you.”

Individuals like me, Justine? The incompetent secretary with next-to-zero experience and the lowest grade point average one can have and still graduate from community college? I am so hot, I’m sizzlin’!


If we monitored the e-mail accounts longer, we’d probably see the amount of spam multiply, as the spammers sold our e-mail addresses to still more spammers.

The lesson here? If you’re going to post your resume on a job site, set up a free e-mail account somewhere and use it only for responses from that site. It’ll still be a pain to browse through all the junk mail for any legitimate inquiries, but at least you’ll keep the spam out of any existing e-mail accounts you care about.

And maybe you can send a complaint letter to Monster, Hot Jobs or Career Builder and tell them what you think about them passing your e-mail address on to skeevy companies who treat you like a moron.

Maybe these will help:

Mr. Richard Castellini
Vice President of Consumer Marketing
CareerBuilder
200 N. LaSalle St
Suite 1100
Chicago, IL 60601
Main Number: (773) 527-3600
Toll Free: (800) 638-4212

Jerry Yang, CEO
Hot Jobs -- Yahoo! Inc.
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Tel: (408) 349-3300
Fax: (408) 349-3301

Mr. Sal Iannuzzi
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Monster Worldwide, Inc.
622 Third Avenue, 39th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Phone: (212) 351-7000
Fax: (646) 658-0541

(Note: We did not count e-mails from the job sites themselves as spam.)

How to Choose a More Secure Password

This short article is worth reading once. You'll want to keep its suggestions in mind the next time you need to create a password for e-mail, banking, etc.

Calling Out Sick? Don't Update Your Facebook.

According to an article by The Press Association, 8 out of 10 employers admitted to using social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace to crack down on employees who make fake "sick" calls. (Here's the article.)

What we don't understand is this:

What makes these genius employers think that just because you're on your MySpace page, it means you're not really sick?

It's entirely possible to be home in your jammies with a hacking cough and a fever, and still surf the web. In fact, at JAS, we think it's entirely likely for a sick employee to get on the web, because when you're home and feeling like crap, what else can you do? Being sick is boring and oppressive, and the only way to keep from being depressed and sick is to watch TV or browse the internet.

And if an employee is out sick and they update their Facebook page to say, "Sally Jones is...partying like there's no tomorrow!" it might just mean she's trying to make herself feel better. She could very well be curled up on the sofa with her laptop, wallowing in her own snot and having NyQuil delusions of better days.

Tips for Accessing Banned Web Sites

Are your locked out of your favorite web sites by your employer? Try this dude's tips for getting in the sneaky way.

Strict Internet Rules at Work

How strict is your workplace about allowing you to go online, check personal e-mail, etc.?

One article from OregonLive.com makes an excellent point we think all employers should remember:

"It's going to create such a strict, restricted kind of environment that it will not serve to retain employees..." "It could feel unwelcome, lacking in warmth, not flexible, not receptive or responsive to today's work environment."

Read more.