Your work space:
? Check for eyestrain: put your hand to your forehead in a salute. If your eyes feel relieved, your space is too bright.
? Get a good desk chair and take the time to adjust it properly. (A friend works at Goldman Sachs, where they have a person who specializes in this, zoikes!)
? Sit up straight—every time I do, I instantly feel more energetic and cheerier.
? Think about how your space could be more pleasant. Could you invest in some desk accessories to help stay organized? Could you replace a hideous lamp with something more attractive?
? Get a phone headset. I resisted for a long time, because it looks so preposterous, but it’s really much more comfortable.
? Don’t keep treats around. A handful of M&Ms each day will mean a weight gain five pounds by year’s end.
? Periodically, take time to deep-clean the loose papers that have piled up. I never do this until I specifically schedule a time, but am always amazed at the wonderful calm it brings.

TO CONTINUE READING THIS ARTICLE, CLICK THIS LINK FOR YAHOO!: 24 Tips for being happy at work – Healthy Living on Shine.

The bill includes tax cuts to please Republicans and its passage would hand President Barack Obama a badly needed political victory. But even the Obama administration acknowledges the legislation’s centerpiece — a tax cut for businesses that hire unemployed workers — would work only on the margins.

Tax experts and business leaders said companies are unlikely to hire workers just to receive a tax break. Before businesses start hiring, they need increased demand for their products, more work for their employees and more revenue to pay those workers.

“We’re skeptical that it’s going to be a big job creator,” said Bill Rys, tax counsel for the National Federation of Independent Business. “There’s certainly nothing wrong with giving a tax break to a business that’s hired a new worker, especially in these tough times. But in terms of being an incentive to hire a lot of workers, we’re skeptical.”

The bipartisan Senate plan would exempt businesses from paying a 6.2 percent Social Security tax on the wages of new employees, as long as the workers have been unemployed at least 60 days. The tax break would run through the end of the year.

Companies could get an additional $1,000 on their 2011 tax returns if they keep the new workers for at least a full year.

FOR CONTINUATION OF THIS ARTICLE, CLICK THIS LINK FOR YAHOO! Bipartisan jobs bill short on making jobs – Yahoo! News.

Even the Obama administration acknowledges the legislation’s centerpiece — a tax cut for businesses that hire unemployed workers — would work only on the margins.

As for the bill’s effectiveness, tax experts and business leaders said companies are unlikely to hire workers just to receive a tax break. Before businesses start hiring, they need increased demand for their products, more work for their employees and more revenue to pay those workers.

“We’re skeptical that it’s going to be a big job creator,” said Bill Rys, tax counsel for the National Federation of Independent Business. “There’s certainly nothing wrong with giving a tax break to a business that’s hired a new worker, especially in these tough times. But in terms of being an incentive to hire a lot of workers, we’re skeptical.”

Rick Klahsen, a tax expert at the accounting firm RSM McGladrey, said his clients need to see business pick up before they can hire more workers.

“If demand were increased, they are saying it will take care of itself because I will then have the motivation to go out and hire new employees,” Klahsen said.

The bipartisan Senate plan would absolve companies of having to pay a 6.2 percent Social Security tax on the wages tax for the balance of 2010 for any workers they hire who had been unemployed for at least 60 days.

A company could save a maximum of $6,621 if it hired an unemployed worker after the bill is enacted and paid that worker at least $106,800 — the maximum amount of wages subject to Social Security taxes — by the end of the year. The company could get an additional $1,000 on its 2011 tax return if it kept the new worker for at least a full year.

FOR CONTINUATION OF THIS ARTICLE, CLICK THIS LINK FOR YAHOO! / AP: PROMISES, PROMISES: Jobs bill won’t add many jobs – Yahoo! Finance.

“There is a blue collar renaissance going on right now,” says Joe Lamacchia, author of Blue Collar and Proud of It: The All-in-One-Resource for Finding Freedom, Financial Success, and Security Outside of the Cubicle. “These are necessary jobs and they’re not going to go anywhere. Our nation’s infrastructure is crumbling. We want to turn this country green, and we don’t have enough workers to do it. There’s a lot of opportunity here.”

Following is a list of blue collar jobs experts say are most in demand this year, and their median annual salary according to online salary database, PayScale.com. To check out more blue collar job salaries, see our salary calculator.

Training for many of these positions includes a paid on-the-job apprenticeship, and the work can be physically rigorous. None of these jobs require education beyond a two-year associate’s degree.

1. Plumber, pipefitter, or steamfitter

“With all the alternative energy sources that people are coming up with — like solar heating, geothermal heat, and biofuel — there’s a big need for these workers,” says Dr. Laurence Shatkin, co-author of “300 Best Jobs Without a Four-Year Degree.” According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), these occupations are among the highest paid in the construction industry. Most of these workers receive their training in a technical school or community college, in addition to a four- or five-year apprenticeship, the BLS reports. In most states and municipalities, plumbers need to obtain a license.

Median annual salary: $49,773

FOR CONTINUATION OF THIS ARTICLE, CLICK THIS LINK AOL/PAYSCALE Blue Collar Jobs in Demand for 2010 – Careers Articles.

With three-year income growth of 11% between 2007 and 2009, Delaware County is one of 10 places Forbes found best for professionals to get ahead. The fastest-growing county in the state, it has benefited from both a diverse mix of jobs that has kept the economy strong, and family-friendly neighborhoods that expanded out from the city center.

FOR CONTINUATION OF THIS ARTICLE, CLICK THIS LINK FOR FORBES: Best Places To Get Ahead – Forbes.com.

U.S. companies, saddled with increasingly onerous costs of employing people, are downsizing, cutting employees’ hours, hiring temps, automating jobs and sending work offshore. Meanwhile, technology is redefining existing jobs and demanding new skills from an aging workforce, and new competition for jobs looms in the form of 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants likely to get legalized in the years ahead. Perhaps most potent, the U.S. is experiencing the largest transfer of gross domestic product from the private sector to the government sector in history — and shifting jobs along with it.

In these roiling times, what are smart career choices? Of course, the best career for one person can be the worst for another, but I believe these 13 are particularly worthy of attention. From among thousands of occupations, I selected the 13 that rank best overall based on these criteria:

• Likelihood of sustaining at least a middle-class income. This subsumes three factors: likely job growth, income potential and being under the radar (so there’s less competition for jobs).

•Socially redeeming. There may be jobs, for example, as casino managers and tobacco executives, but such occupations were immediately excluded from consideration.

•Quality of life. Reasonable work hours, freedom from toxic or noisy work environments, and so on.

FOR CONTINUATION OF THIS ARTICLE, CLICK THIS LINK FOR KIPLINGER: 13 Careers for the Next Decade – Kiplinger.com.

Obama and Vice President Joe Biden plan to announce grants for 13 major corridors during a town hall meeting in Tampa, Fla., Thursday, the president’s first public appearance following his speech to the nation. It’s an attempt by the White House to show that getting Americans back to work is the president’s top priority and that he has a plan for how to do it.

The president’s visit to the region means Florida’s proposal for a high-speed line connecting Orlando and Tampa is likely to receive funding. California’s proposal for an 800-mile-long rail line from Sacramento to San Diego and a nine-state proposal in the Midwest are also considered strong contenders.

The $8 billion in funding for high-speed trains and other passenger rail projects is part of the $787 billion recovery act. Besides the 13 corridors receiving grants, a White House official said several smaller awards will be made for improvements to existing rail lines. Overall, 31 states will receive funds.

FOR CONTINUATION OF THIS ARTICLE, CLICK THIS LINK FOR AP / JACKSONVILLE DAILY NEWS: AP News : Jacksonville Daily News.

By Lawrence Ross

Over the past year, bad news – bank failures, job loss, and a down housing market – has hovered over the economy like a dark cloud.  But good news is on the horizon. According to Newsweek magazine, the stock market has rallied up 44% since March 2009.  And it gets better… despite the rocky economy, there are some bright spots in the job market.

Here are four fields that are hiring.

1. FINANCIAL SERVICES

With the economy experiencing such great change, both individuals and businesses are seeking trained financial professionals to help them through turbulent times.

Bright Spot Careers

* Financial Analyst: Learn what you need to know to perform audits for businesses with a bachelor's degree. Add an MBA in finance for that extra leg up in this competitive career. Financial analysts can earn over $90,000 per year.

* Accountant: Earn a bachelor's degree in accounting or a related field and you're set to start managing financial information, preparing tax returns, and more. Accountants make $54,630 on average.

FOR CONTINUATION OF THIS ARTICLE, CLICK THIS LINK FOR YAHOO!: Bright Spots in the Job Market – Yahoo! Education.

Here are my top 10 most useless job-search rules to break as soon as you get a chance:

1. Never use “I” in your resume.

We’ve been taught to write a resume like a stiff government document. No one wants to read something like that. “I” is a perfectly wonderful word to use when you’re talking about yourself. An HR person who writes in his resume summary, “I’m passionate about helping employees succeed on the job” is stepping out of the formal protocol to tell an employer, “Here’s what kind of HR person I am.” That’s a big plus, not a minus.

2. Never make it obvious (on LinkedIn, for instance) that you’re job-seeking.

Poppycock! If you don’t include something in your LinkedIn “headline” (the line just under your name) to tell employers and others that you’re looking, they’ll assume you’re employed and they won’t reach out to you. A headline like “Start-up Marketing Manager Seeking Next Challenge” gives people a reason to contact you if they’ve got a job opening. That’s free marketing for you. Grab it!

3. Your cover letter should be conversational, while your resume should be formal.

Who says it has to be this way? Lots of hiring managers skip the cover letter entirely. Your resume has to make it clear what you’re about, so it has to brim with as much of the brand You as it possibly can. Ditch the “results-oriented professional” for weightier bullets like, “I got our X-25 product out the door six months early to add $10M in quarterly sales.” Write a conversational resume summary statement that’s free of boring boilerplate like “strong work ethic.”

If you’re not stuffy yourself, why portray yourself that way in your resume?

FOR CONTINUATION OF THIS STORY, CLICK THIS LINK FOR YAHOO!: The Savvy Networker.

Obama proposed an unspecified amount of new spending on infrastructure projects, more tax breaks for small businesses and a “Cash for Caulkers” program that would offer tax incentives for making homes more energy efficient.

It’s wonderful that the president is finally addressing the jobs crisis directly. And the programs he’s pushing are pretty smart. But much bolder action is needed.

What’s needed are some Big Ideas — the kind that make people stand up and take notice. The kind that announce to the American people that the government is now coming to their rescue, after having saved Wall Street.

Things like a new federal jobs program, so that the otherwise unemployed continue working on publicly valued projects. Or some massive new financing authorities that would assure a constant, multi-year supply of funding for infrastructure projects, and green jobs. Or a major conservation and revitalization initiative, particularly targeted at urban blight and foreclosed properties. Or a payroll tax holiday. Or a few ambitious public works projects.

FOR CONTINUATION OF THIS STORY, CLICK THIS LINK FOR THE HUFFINGTON POST: Obama Fails To Move The Needle With His Jobs Speech.