1st Rate Blog

Facebook Games – Play with Caution

Do you participate in games on Facebook? Did you hear the news this week about the breach that allows 3rd parties to access your Facebook ID? The Wall Street Journal did an investigation and shut down the offending sites. Apparently Farmville, Frontierville, and a few...

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I Created a New Job for Myself

For the past 6 or 7 years, I had an idea to put a radio show on the air about the Job Search. Today that dream came true when I launched Career Matters on Fox Radio 910 in Roanoke. I was paralyzed with fear, even though I have 20+ years of experience in radio and...

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Ageism and the Online Job Application

I have a bone to pick with online job applications. How are companies remaining compliant with federal and state laws that prohibit asking a job seeker how how s/he is? If you're as old as I am, you may remember the day of listing a date of birth on an official job...

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Is the Recession Really Over?

According to top economists, the recession was officially over a year ago.  Tell that to the scores of unemployed and their reaction might be, "yeah, that's  because the Depression is now upon us." I'm no economist. In fact I'll be the first to admit I got a big fat D...

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Mystery Shopper/$800 Week

That's the title of the email that found its way to my inbox this morning. My first clue that it was a scam is that it's from my own email address.  My second clue is that I tried mystery shopping about 7 years ago and it doesn't pay $800 a week. In fact, I got $5 an...

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Keep Your Resume off the Company Copier

Have you ever photocopied your resume (or taxes) or any other private information using your company copier? If you're required to punch in a code and your copier is attached to a computer network -- BEWARE! Your boss can monitor everything you photo copy or print out...

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