Every now and then we need a reminder to not sell ourselves short.

As pointed out in a piece in The Washington Post Magazine, a reader submitted a query indicating he or she wrote two promotional booklets for a retirement facility, the same one where the reader actually lives. When the bill was a submitted, the facility director pushed back. She said, “We can’t pay you for this.”

“The term ‘freelance’ originally referred to mercenary soldiers: ‘free’ meaning unaffiliated, and ‘lance’ referring to their pointy weapons,” explained Karla L. Miller.

The work columnist added, “Apparently your facility’s director has reinterpreted it as someone you can stick it to without paying.”

Her advice per the piece? “Do no unpaid work. Never start a project without a contract spelling out payment, deadlines and milestones, for your protection and the client’s. Without a contract, the client may well assume you’re volunteering — which is why plumbers, paperhangers and other professionals have you sign something up front.” Read more

This just in…if you’ve ever wanted your boss to take a hike, it works the other way around, too. According to a new CareerBuilder survey, 27 percent of bosses revealed they have a direct report they’d rather see leave.

Rosemary Haefner, the vice president of human resources at the job site, explained in the press release,  “It’s important that managers be as direct as possible when dealing with employees that, for whatever reason, aren’t a good fit for their teams.”

She added, “Fortunately, a plurality of managers in our survey were open to confronting the situation through a formal discussion or warning; however, some will do nothing at all, or even resort to passive aggressive behaviors that can only prolong a negative working arrangement. It’s important that workers be aware of such warning signs, and if necessary, take steps to improve their situations.”

Formal warnings have been issued by 42 percent of the managers surveyed. In lieu of a formal warning, other supervisors pointed out shortcomings in their direct report’s performance, reduced responsibilities, moved the person to another area, and hired someone else to eventually replace the worker.

Interestingly enough, one-third of bosses in the survey confessed they simply wouldn’t do any of the items mentioned.

We have to admit, we’re a little jealous. Although the nation’s top 50 employers for boomers has been announced, the coveted perks seem pretty enticing regardless of your demographic.

Telecommuting? Check. Flexible work schedules? Check. Retirement planning services? Oh yeah. Free health care benefits? Sign us up!

As pointed out in MarketWatch, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and AARP compiled the list which includes employers who offer enviable perks while actively recruiting and retaining baby boomers. And we would be remiss if we didn’t point out we didn’t see any media companies on the list. Hmmm.

The numbers tell all. The National Institutes of Health ranked numero uno on the list and get this — 47 percent of their employees are older than 50! Their hiring strategy includes participating at an annual job fair geared toward the 50-plus crowd and alerting recent retirees of new jobs.

Second place on the list belongs to Scripps Health, a San Diego-based health care system. Their recruiting strategy includes hiring former employees (as HR folks call ‘em: ”Boomerangs”), through its alumni program. Plus, they use placement agencies that focus efforts on mature workers.

Without further ado, here are the top 10 employers on the list:

1. National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Md.

2. Scripps Health, San Diego

3. Atlantic Health System, Morristown, N.J.

4. University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

5. Mercy Health System, Janesville, Wis.

6. YMCA of Greater Rochester, Rochester, N.Y

7. West Virginia University, Morgantown, W.Va.

8. Bon Secours Virginia, Richmond, Va.

9. National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Arlington, Va.

10. WellStar Health System, Marietta, Ga.

Sure, you’ve probably read your fair share of job descriptions in terms of job details and basic requirements but this one on lululemon’s site takes the cake!

We just had to take a moment to give their hiring team a nod for creativity as it nabs headlines for its innovative flair and reflection of its company culture.

We all send subliminal signals from time to time whether it’s our body language (yawn…wait, we swear we’re not snoozing in front of you), attitude or behavior. Per this piece on U.S. News & World Report, there are a few things you may want to slightly tweak to get your game on.

1. Watch your crowd. Simply stated, you are who you hang out with. If you hang out with people who constantly complain, you’ll be associated with complainers.

And even though your work may shine on its own, that’s not good enough. Your total package includes your work in addition to how you’re perceived.  One way to tweak it? Spend time with high achievers in the office. In the piece, Alison Green points out you’re “likely to be perceived as having a similar work ethic and values (and those things can rub off on you in reality too).” Read more

Right on the heels of an internship victory over Fox Searchlight, we heard of another lawsuit filed by interns.

A class action suit was filed on behalf of two Conde Nast interns alleging the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York labor laws. The suit argues the interns must be paid minimum wage since they worked for the employer and performed productive work even when they learned a new skill and professionally benefitted from the internship.

We received a release from law firm Outten & Golden LLP which represents the plaintiffs. It indicated Lauren Ballinger worked at W Magazine. In the accessories and fine jewelry departments, she packed and unpacked accessories and jewelry in addition to running errands and completing insurance forms. Read more

As a footnote to the monthly employment report last week, let’s take a look at temporary workers, shall we? Apparently, as pointed out by a piece on ERE, more workers are employed as temps right now since 2000!

Here’s how it breaks down: As per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2,679,800 people worked as temps in May. Plus, during the past year there’s an average of 15,500 new temp hires on a monthly basis. Temporary workers as a percentage of the overall of employed population rose to 1.98 percent. In addition, the growth rate of year-to-year growth is five times of the overall percentage increase in jobs.

Temp jobs can be a solution for employers who want short-term workers but for the temporary placement firm itself, they need to be cognizant of providing benefits to employees once they hit the 50th worker threshold.

In addition, the U.S. Census Bureau released revenue figures for the employment sector relating to the first quarter. Guess what makes up the largest part of this sector? Give up? That’s right — the temp world.

This includes a plethora of subcategories such as employment agencies, search firms and professional employer organizations. Temp organizations actually collectively brought in $62 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Lauren Dolgen, creator of MTV’s popular 16 & Pregnant and Teen Mom franchises, first got her foot in the door at the network as an intern. With 16 years at MTV and several hit shows under her belt, the head of West Coast reality and EVP of series development spoke with Mediabistro about how others can break into the biz.

“I actually was an MTV intern, like, a gazillion years ago, but it really sparked my interest in television, really sparked my interest in MTV in general,” she said. “I also think that production assistant work and getting in on the production side is a really great experience, and I think that it has helped me, as well, in my career. Especially on the development side, knowing production a bit really does help, because when you are asking your producers for things, you recognize what you’re really asking for and will help strategize to get those things and accomplish them.”

Read the full interview in So What Do You Do, Lauren Dolgen, EVP of MTV’s Series Development?

– Sherry Yuan

We got inspired by a piece on Brazen Careerist which points out several ways to keep your career fresh.

The thing is, we’re big advocates of always keeping your career on top of your game. That is, don’t wait until you’re out of a job to revamp that resume. Do it now instead! Don’t wait until you can’t stand your job to start networking; constantly be in touch with various contacts here and there regardless.

Without sounding too preachy, here are a few other pointers you can continually work on to keep your career prowess in your control and oh-so-very polished.

1. Monitor your social media accounts. Instead of cleaning up your Facebook photo albums right before a big interview, why not continue monitoring the photos you’re tagged in? In the post, Kelly Gurnett writes, “What business dust bunnies and everything drawers have you been neglecting?”

In addition to keeping photos squeaky clean, make sure your LinkedIn profile is accurate. If you’ve won awards recently (and even not-so-recently), feel free to add them. Beef up your profile with new skills you’ve learned and honed. If old information is no longer relevant, feel free to tweak or even delete it. Spruce up your profile pics and make sure they’re recent. Read more

College students, listen up and everyone else, take heed. If you want to be debt-free after you graduate, you may want to avoid pursuing a few occupations which rank among the worst for debt. You know, like journalism.

We cringe with disappointment as we share this grim news. That is, Bankrate released numbers which reflect occupations related to debt by comparing median salaries and how long it would take to pay off student loans. Read more