The Dailies

Part 1 of 2

Switching fields may seem taboo, but it’s quite doable, especially now when labor markets are tight. Almost half of the 164 employers who responded to our MONEY Magazine/Salary.com survey say they regularly target mid-career changers when recruiting. One reason: Switchers are dedicated to their move, with 32 percent saying they’ll spend “as long as it takes” to get the necessary certification and schooling.

What are they looking for? Pay and advancement, sure, but also fulfillment and a sense that they can control their career paths.

Steve Mullins, 44, already has a good job: He’s a telecommunications engineer for a pharmaceutical company. But he’s studying to become a nurse — it’s a top job for career changers because demand is so high. “They can offshore my job any day of the week,” says Mullins of Noblesville, Indiana. “And of course, when you fix a router, it doesn’t say thanks.”

To make your case to a hiring manager, follow these tips.

1. Show your commitment.

“Employers are seeing high turnover,” says Kimberly Bishop, a senior client partner at recruiter Korn/Ferry International. “They want to make sure you will be the right fit.”

You’ll be more convincing if you take classes, join industry organizations or moonlight (even on a volunteer basis) within the field you’re exploring before you try to go full time — and you’ll also have a much better idea if this really is the right move for you.

2. Quantify your skills.

It may not be obvious how what you know translates into what they do. So focus on your transferable skills — not your experience — in interviews and on your resume.

Quantify your accomplishments: Show that you increased sales X percent or managed Y number of people. “It helps provide the scope and breadth of your accomplishments,” says Bishop, “and it shows you very clearly understand what you’ve done.”

Also highlight areas in your background that give you an advantage. When interviewing for an IT position, Randy Jensen, 36, of Riverton, Utah, pointed out that after 15 years in radio, he has good communication skills. “I can string two sentences together,” he says. “I’m not going to be a hermit in a cubicle.”

When you think of the ideal boss, actress Carol Burnett and late-night TV host David Letterman probably don’t come to mind. But those two celebrities have a quality that most workers say is essential to being a good boss: a sense of humor.

When asked in a recent poll how important it is for a manager to have a sense of humor, 65% of workers answered “very important,” while 32% answered “somewhat important.” The survey, conducted by staffing firm Robert Half International, also revealed that most of the workers (87%) rated their managers as having good senses of humor.

Max Messmer, chairman and chief executive of RHI, said the survey underscores that humor can make a boss seem more approachable, but it’s not a license to be a clown.

“To be taken seriously, supervisors must balance their desire to keep the mood light with the need to accomplish business objectives, inspire great performance, and maintain professionalism,” Messmer said.

Is Your Boss Funny?

(more…)

Here are 3 points for you to consider…

Smart Snacks

Stay away from the vending machines by bringing to work your own healthy snacks, such as nuts, popcorn, or granola bars, in pre-portioned packages, according to Marisa Moore, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.

“The key is not to bring the entire box or package,” Moore says. “If you bring the entire box, you’re tempted to eat more than one.”

Maximum Exercise, Minimum Time

For his busy corporate clients who find it hard to squeeze in a workout, Talbott recommends a three-times-a-week program of 28 minutes of interval training, combining intensive activities with cool-down periods.

“If time is the big issue, [this is] the shortest amount of time we can have someone exercise and see results,” he says.

Healthy Riding

If you have a long commute, you can avoid having the car become a filling station by having breakfast before you leave for work, and a light snack prior to returning home.

“Everything looks good when you’re hungry,” Moore says. “You don’t want to stop by a fast-food restaurant on the way to work or home, because you’ll fill up with 1,200 calories before you know it.”

Yes, it does. Too much sitting down. Only my fingers and a bit of my arms are moving… who wouldn’t get fat with that, huh?

While your job can’t be blamed directly for your putting on the pounds, the potent combination of too much work stress, too little sleep, and not enough physical activity can lead to weight gain.

The best offense against work-related flab, experts say, is the often-repeated mantra of exercising regularly and eating right. Start by understanding why you’re at risk of gaining weight on the job, so you can take steps to avoid it.

(more…)

When you’re considering taking a new job, it’s important to find out how a potential employer treats employees. But getting the answer to that question, along with others that will help you determine if you’ll be happy at the company, may take some sleuthing. Here are five questions that will help you decide if the company is a fit – and some unconventional ways to find the answers:

# What makes employees join this company and stay here? You can always ask your potential manager this question in an interview. But if you ask the employees you see while walking around the premises, as Griffen did, you’ll get a wider variety of answers – and possibly more honest ones.

(more…)

Former chess champion Garry Kasparov released his latest book this month, at the same time he formally entered the race to become President of Russia. How Life Imitates Chess is Kasparov’s effort to examine how the lessons from his chess career can be applied to the worlds of business and politics. As such, it’s something of a primer on his political strategy in Russia, where his outspoken criticism of Vladimir Putin and his own presidential aspirations are considered far-fetched at best and dangerous at worst. In this, the second of two excerpts from the book, Kasparov addresses directly how he hopes to change the political situation in Russia.

At the end of 2006, as this book was headed to the printer in several countries, the internal political chaos in Russia spilled out into the world’s headlines. A British national, KGB agent defector, and harsh critic of the Kremlin, Alexander Litvinenko, was assassinated with the rare radioactive substance polonium 210. The investigation into his death currently spans at least three countries.

Litvinenko’s murder came on the heels of the Moscow killing of the well-known investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya—on Russian president Vladimir Putin’s birthday, no less. The killings have turned a spotlight on what the West had assumed was the autocratic but stable Putin regime. Suddenly the foreign media is realizing what we in the Russian opposition have been saying for years—the Kremlin is ever closer to dictatorship than democracy and yet is not stable at all.

The world has no shortage of big-ticket restaurants, and even if you’ve never set foot in one, you likely could rattle off those cities with the highest concentration of them: London, Tokyo, Paris, Vancouver—yes, Vancouver. Average per-person tabs in British Columbia’s largest city might run $39, paltry compared with those in Osaka, Kobe, or Kyoto, where restaurant meals cost an average of $65, according to Zagat Survey. But the Canadian city rivals New York ($39) for the title of priciest dining capital in North America. And meals in Montreal cost an average of $1.71 more than in Los Angeles. Surprised?

(more…)

French chef extraordinaire Joël Robuchon opened his only two outposts in the U.S. in 2005 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. If you win big, why not shell out $360 at his eponymous restaurant for a 16-course tasting menu including sea urchin, coffee-flavored potato purée, and grilled Kobe beef? The $225 six-course menu includes veal chops, sea bass, and celeriac custard topped with truffle cream.