Did you know that some companies have strict policies regarding work place romance? If you or someone you know have been involved in an office romance, you probably know about the potential embarassment, or discomfort of seeing that co worker after the romance has ended. The folks over at Spherion, a recruiting and staffing firm based in Florida, recently posted this survey on their blog.

Does dating a coworker jeopardize your career? Do you try to keep a relationship secret or formally announce it? What’s the company policy? Spherion’s latest Snapshot survey looks at these issues and how workers today feel about them. Here’s what we found:

Derailing Your Career. According to the Spherion survey, 41 percent of U.S. workers think openly dating a coworker would jeopardize their job security or advancement opportunities.

What’s the Company Line? More than half of U.S. workers say their employer does not have a policy regarding workplace romances, and 16 percent say their employer does have such a policy, according to the Spherion survey. Perhaps most noteworthy, nearly one-third of workers surveyed were not sure if their employer has a policy regarding workplace romances.

Mum’s the Word. When it comes to secrecy and office romance, Spherion found that 41 percent of workers who had a workplace romance said it was conducted in the open, while 35 percent claimed they kept it a secret.

Cupid’s Success Rate at the Office. Among those workers who have had a workplace romance, 30 percent say they dated for several months, 15 percent dated for several years, and one quarter resulted in marriage.

As with any relationship, approach with caution. There are potentially more problems than good when cruising the office pool looking for love.

Being buried under a mountain of student debt can be a tough way to start out in the workforce. When your first paychecks start rolling in, you will kiss a bunch of money goodbye when you have to repay your students loans. So how can you build a future AND pay off your student debts? A recent post had a few great pointers on how.
Learn about your loans. Many student loans allow for a 6-9 month grace period before loan repayment begins. During this time, your loans may be charged a lower rate of interest. Consider consolidating your loans and locking in your interest rate while your loans are at a lower rate. This may not only help keep the cost of borrowing … | Read the rest of this entry »

Do you consider yourself to be happy? You would be surprised to know that many Americans are NOT happy and do not know how to become happy. Does happiness depend on choosing the right career or having a high paying job?
As a country, we are richer than ever. Yet surveys show that Americans are no happier than they were 30 years ago. The key problem: We aren’t very good at figuring out what will make us happy.
We constantly hanker after fancier cars and fatter paychecks — and, initially, such things boost our happiness. But the glow of satisfaction quickly fades and soon we’re yearning for something else.
Similarly, we tell our friends that our kids are our greatest joy. Research, however, suggests the arrival … | Read the rest of this entry »

So you want to learn online… Sounds good, convenient, and easy right? It could be a total waste of time if you don’t know exactly what you’re in for. Before signing up for an online course or program it’s important that you know what kind of skills are needed, and in what format the class will be delivered.
Computer Skills
No online student can be successful if they are not comfortable navigating the Internet. Many people say that only super basic skills are needed to learn online. I however feel that your computer skills need to be comfortably on the intermediate level. Not only do you have to browse the Internet and send email, you need to be able to do deep research … | Read the rest of this entry »

It’s hard enough to balance family and career. Now add going to school and you have a real juggling act. But today, many adults and continuing students are finding a way to accomplish everything they want with online learning.
Adults are returning to school in great numbers to earn their degree, finish their degree, or further their education. The advent of online learning is making education available to these students on a schedule that is more convenient. According to a study by the
When you study online, you have access to your course work and lectures 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This way you can attend class while the kids are napping or at school — or even while … | Read the rest of this entry »