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You don’t have to be a therapist to know that becoming close to a colleague can potentially lead to becoming more than just friends. One needs to be aware of the danger signs, especially if they’re already in a committed relationship (with someone outside the office, that is). To be clear, it is possible to work closely with a person of the opposite sex without crossing the line into intimacy or a full-blown affair. The key is setting boundaries and sticking to them. [More]

Women tend to strive more for excellence; to prove themselves. Not that men don't feel they need to prove themselves, but women have an extra push to show that they are smart, knowledgeable, capable, and able to handle just about anything and everything. Research shows that women are still not as "committed" as men. Women are often referred to as bossy when they are actually being assertive. [More]

Despite the many ill effects of chronic stress, the most obvious symptom is an omnipresent anxiety and agitation, depression, or other emotional shift that drains the joy from your daily life. While these effects play out in our daily lives- increased moodiness, anger, short attention span and low patience- the physical effects of stress can be equally draining and detrimental to overall health and vitality. Long term stress has the capacity to catalyze perilous health concerns, including high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, insomnia, panic attacks, depression, anxiety, and other emotional and psychological disorders. [More]

It has often been said that the relationship between a boss and their employee is like a marriage. Indeed, some employees work closely together with their bosses up to fifty hours a week, sometimes under difficult circumstances. [More]

Making the decision to reenter the workforce after having a baby is often a difficult challenge faced by many new parents. Returning to work can create emotional conflicts for new mothers, as they are torn between being the primary caretaker, and resuming their employment. However, with effective planning, the end of maternity leave does not have to be met with dread or despair. [More]

Most people know at least one lawyer. What they don’t likely know is that there’s a pretty good chance they suffer from depression. While the rate of depression in the general population hovers around ten percent, studies show that the rate of depression for lawyers is twice that. Accordingly, of the 1.2 million lawyers in America, approximately 240,000 of them are struggling with depression right now. [More]

Mental Illness, Cognitive Decline, or Sleep Deprivation? How to tell the difference, and why it is important. [More]

We all receive criticism in our lives, whether they be related to our personal or professional downfalls. That said there are countless ways to respond to criticisms, yet not all of them will have equal effects. [More]

Why Do I feel so tired? It is finally Friday! We are energized and eager to get that inbox emptied just in time for the weekend. Until that three o’clock crash hits us like a heat wave in the desert. Why is it that most people get so sleepy between two and four o’clock each day? We eat right, we love our jobs, and we want to be attentive and aware until that clock strikes five, but it happens anyway. It is hard to think, hard to stay focused, and hard to even keep our eyes open. It has to do with our biological clock, or circadian cycle. The cycle dictates how alert we are during a twenty-four hour cycle. There are two times during that twenty-four hour cycle when our alertness will drop. Aside from some degree of difference due to life getting us off track, most of us will have these drops between two and four in the morning and again twelve hours later, which is our three o’clock slump. [1] What happens during these times is that the amount of natural light decreases, our body temperature decreases, we have a rise in a hormone that causes sleep called melatonin, and oxygen circulation in our body decreases. Our bodies really do want us to nap. Unfortunately, most of us who work need our job to survive, and most companies frown on crawling under the desk for a siesta. While we can’t change nature, or the fact that our culture exists due to those of us working during this time to keep it running, we can do a few things to help make it through this mental dip in our day. Get Your Sleep If you can take a 20 minute nap, it can improve your focus, but the way to combat the afternoon crash is to get plenty of sleep each night. The afternoon slump is not as intense if you have had a good night’s sleep. In the summer, it is difficult to get the amount of sleep we need because the sun is up, and we have so many fun things to do, but our bodies take cues from the sun. Don’t let yourself stay up late because you have things to get done after the sun goes down. Sleep with the curtain open so that the sun wakes you, and then let yourself wind down in the evenings as the sun goes down. Avoid doing stimulating things, such as watching TV or being on the computer at night. Reading is a good way to wind down, and get your mind ready for sleep. Friday Afternoon Dance Party Combine the three things that stimulate your mind and body the most. Music helps to improve mood, and focus, movement helps alleviate your body temperature and increase adrenalin and oxygen circulation to the brain. If dancing around the office is too much for your company, a few stretches, getting up and walking around, or putting on the headphones, and having your own dance party are all adequate substitutes. I have found that having a standing desk has reduced my afternoon slump tremendously. Get Some Rays Take advantage of the natural light that helps regulate our circadian cycle by getting out in the sun for a few minutes. Going for a walk would combine that light with the movement that helps to wake us up. Plan Group Activities If you can, plan any group activities for that time when we are all getting drowsy. One of the things that enhance that sleepy feeling is boredom. [2] If you have activities that involve stimulating conversations or interesting ideas, plan them in the afternoon, when you will need that stimulation the most. On the other hand, if you know a meeting is going to be monotonous, plan it away from the afternoon mental crash. The afternoon slump can be much worse on Friday when we are so close to the weekend, and wrapping up the week’s loose ends, but there is hope for those of us who suffer from the mind numbing body clock blues. It just takes knowing how your body works, getting plenty of sleep, light, and movement to keep us as energized and eager from morning until that clock strikes five. Getting Help The inability to concentrate at work could be more that just the time of day. If you are finding it generally hard to get up in the morning or maybe even hard to actually turn your mind off and get to sleep at night you may benefit from discussing things with a counselor. Many people are going through stressful events, or even work itself is stressful. The ability to talk-it-out and feel supported can help to bring back joy into the day and allow for more cohesiveness work environment. [1] "How Your Body Clock Affects Sleep—And How to Reset It." Helpguide.org. Collaboration with Harvard Medical Publications, n.d. Web. 21 July 2013. [2] “Boredom effects on sleepiness/alertness in the early afternoon vs. early evening and interactions with warm ambient temperature.” Mavjee, V., Home, J.A. British Journal of Psychology, (1994). 85(3), 317-333.

Networking has a new meaning in today's job market... The Past In the past, some of the best insight into whether a person would be a good fit for a company has been personal interviews, positive personal references, IQ tests, and personality testing. In our technologically changing world, there are new ways to gather this sort of information. Social networking, data-mining, and even games and videos can be used to collect information about how people deal with various situations, how they multi-task, and even, to some degree, intelligence. [1] The Present The most popular vehicle for employers to seek insight into a candidate has been the professional networking site, LinkedIn. According to an article written by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and Christopher Steinmetz, LinkedIn offers the professional the personal reference through its use of the “Endorsements” feature. An employer looking for a candidate can now see the resume, and references, as well as interests before making contact with the candidate. This saves time in the hiring process. A 2012 study by psychologists Jamie Guillory and Jeffery Hancock at Cornell University found that public resumes on LinkedIn foster more honesty with regard to work experience than the tradition paper resume, because it is public, and can more easily be called to question by family and friends. However, interests or hobbies that are not known as objectively were not as honest. In addition to LinkedIn, there are several other ways an employer can seek information about a person. Looking at blogs, Facebook, and Twitter give a glimpse into a person’s character and interests, but can also create a bias based on looks, or interests that would not matter in the work environment, and would not come up in a face to face interview. The Future? New technology could take the social networking we currently use even further with data mining. Data mining is software used to derive insight to make evidenced-based decisions. Companies such as TweetPsych and YouAreWhatYouLike use Twitter and Facebook to create a personality profile for an individual based on the individual’s activity on those social networks with amazing accuracy. Psychologist Michal Kosinski of the University of Cambridge published an analysis suggesting that the accuracy is greater than 75% for predicting gender, sexual orientation, religion, and political preference. While the percentage is lower for personality traits and intelligence, it is still significantly accurate in estimating IQ and personality. [2] Another tool for networking is a video offered by companies like EnRecruit and Spark Hire, which asks candidates questions on video, and employers can evaluate their responses in private. This offers a time savings, and a standardized interviewing process. Additionally, gaming can also predict character traits through situational behavior. This engaging innovation allows a candidate to play a game that analyses their choices and categorizes job skills and personality traits. The company, Knack, bases personality profiles on research from behavioral scientists who have mapped certain responses in the game with job skills. As an example, the game “Wasabi Waiter” can measure many skills such as the ability to multi-task, and remember details. Reckitt Benckiser, a multinational consumer goods company, uses the game “Insanely Driven” to profile personality. Players must handle tough situations in a race that measures personality, ambition, sensitivity, and prudence. This game bases assessment on the five-factor model Hogan Personality Inventory. L’Oreal uses the game “Reveal” for its cosmetics company. This game is used to discover people based on the qualities such as Risk taking, analytical skills, and more. Additionally, there are databases that can assess what people are saying about an individual. These sites like Topsy and Klout can be used to see an individual’s influence on the world. Can This Innovation Shape the Job Market? There are pros and cons to all of this new technology. On one hand, employers can save time scheduling, and sifting through papers to find the perfect fit for their company. Candidates can avoid some of the anxiety of interviews, and loss of self-esteem from rejections. It streamlines the process of hiring, while making it a bit more evidence based. On the other hand, it also requires a loss of privacy for the person looking for a job. Companies would need access to the information that is normally private or protected by password. Another problem with the new technology is that people are not willing to give up that privacy in an age so tight on security. It also tends to limit the human contact even further than we have already in our gadget run world. Whether a job seeker wants to use the old resume and cover letter, or cutting edge new networking innovations, a career counselor can help research the best career match, based on a person’s individual qualities, and skills, as well as aid in finding the right tools for the job search in our ever changing job market. ________________________________________________________________ [1] Chamorro-Premuzic, Tomas, and Christopher Steinmetz. "The Perfect Hire." Scientific American Mind July-Aug. 2013: 43-47. [2] Kosinski, Michael, David Stillwell, and Thore Graepel. "Private Traits and Attributes Are Predictable from Digital Records of Human Behavior." Private Traits and Attributes Are Predictable from Digital Records of Human Behavior. PNAS, 11 Mar. 2013. Web. 06 July 2013.