Workplace bullying makes us downright sick and according to this latest study, it’s no less easy on our stomachs.

The following study mentioned bullies tend to pick on colleagues who they deem unattractive.

Researchers from Michigan State University and the University of Notre Dame surveyed employees at a health care facility to determine how often coworkers got bullied. In the study, other participants separately looked at digital photos of the employees and graded their attractiveness. Read more

It happens to all of us at one point or another. A personal crisis or stressful situation occurs outside the office which can’t help but permeate the job as well.

According to a piece on The Daily Muse, there are a few ways to handle the delicate situation. Keep in mind everyone handles situations differently.

Whether it’s going through a bitter divorce or dealing with stress from a car accident, each situation has the potential to wear down the employee. Furthermore, someone may be able to simply shrug a situation off their shoulders and not let it impact them whereas others feel like the world is ending. Read more

We all know by now that filtering the content you share on social media sites is crucial to maintaining a professional reputation online.

For media pros though, building a reputable online presence goes beyond basic filtering; censorship is good and necessary, but it can only get you so far. If you want to really impress potential employers with your personal Google search results, understanding the site’s algorithm can go a long way.

In the latest Mediabistro feature, we talk to brand strategists and SEO pros to find out how they manage to keep content fresh:

If your domain is YourFullName.com, Google will rank it higher when people search for you.

“It really boils down to keywords for the homepage optimization,” explained Collin Jarman, SEO technician at Click Optimize, LLC, a North Carolina-based Web design and Internet marketing firm. “So, in this instance, your keyword is going to be your own name because that’s what you want to rank for.”

For more on optimizing your personal search results, read Google Yourself: 4 Ways to Fix Your Online Reputation.

– Sherry Yuan

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As year-end rolls around, no matter when your fiscal year occurs, you know it equates to one thing: Feedback!

Well, if the review is not so sunny and bright, there are a few pointers to keep in mind as per The New York Post.

For starters, keep your cool. Jodi Glickman, author of Great on the Job explains, “If you can’t keep your composure, say that it’s not what you expected, that you’re disappointed and excuse yourself.” You can always continue the conversation later on when you’re less emotional.

Once reality sinks in, Dan Schawbel recommends taking stock if it isn’t your first negative review with this company. The author of the forthcoming book, Promote Yourself: The New Rules for Career Success, tells the newspaper, “But don’t quit until the new job is in hand.”  Read more

Leave of absence, anyone? Or maybe you just want to throw in the towel, give your two weeks notice and take time to get introspective and figure out your next career move.

According to this piece on Brazen Careerist, there are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Go ahead and take time off! But don’t do it to figure things out. The piece mentions people who had the best experiences during their ample time didn’t intentionally take the time off to figure things out and get clarity. In fact, it’s the opposite — they arrived at that zen moment by enjoying the journey. Truly. Read more

We thought getting the ax was tough enough via text message but getting the pink slip doled out over the phone doesn’t sit well with us either.

Somehow this story fell off our radar screen last week when it occurred so even though this post is belated, we can’t not take notice.

As originally reported on JimRomenesko, last week between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., 50 staffers at Cleveland’s Plain Dealer got the pink slip on the phone. At home. They were told to go to the newspaper’s production center 10 miles away to collect their severance materials.      Read more

Please say it isn’t so! Some fashion trends were meant to die on the vine. We think this is one of them.

The Wall Street Journal reports power dressing is back and it’s in full force. And yes, it’s just what you think it is for women at least. Conservative menswear suits to remind us of yesteryear (and by that we mean the ’80s). Read more

We’ve heard about getting fired for an inappropriate tweet or Facebook post but now Instagram has joined the game.

Our friends at Gothamist reported that Wade Groom, the top salesperson for the U.S. branch of Lacoste, posted a picture of his paycheck to Instagram.

As you can imagine, the corporate office in France was less than pleased and said it was a breach of the employee confidentiality agreement. Read more

Our friends at CareerCloud are at it again! We just got word from Chris Russell, their CEO, about their new app and service, Jobs With Friends.

Tapping into your contacts for Facebook and LinkedIn per the new service seems like a no brainer. After all, according to JobVite, approximately 40 percent of all hires are attributed to employee referrals!

He dishes, ”We are moving to a world where recruiters are scouring the web (social media in particular) to discover new talent. And if you can’t be found, you can’t get hired.” Read more

Hashtags got you down? If you’re overwhelmed by looking for a job on Twitter, you’re not alone.

As pointed out by CBS News, Gozaik assists users in making sense of the 50,000+ jobs posted to Twitter on a daily basis. You can search and sort the tweets without having to follow specific companies. The site also lets users enter the location you’re seeing by searching for jobs within a radius.

We decided to give the free service a whirl: By entering the title of journalist for 50 miles within New York, N.Y., five job postings appeared on the screen. Wondering why more jobs didn’t appear, we noticed the fine print:  ”Gozaik contains jobs from selected US employers. Contact us at 855-6GOZAIK or info@gozaik.com to include your jobs.” Read more