Have you been itching to take a vacation? Were you born to be in front of the camera? If this cold weather is giving you a bit of cabin fever and you’re ready for your 15 minutes of fame, you just might be able to take that special trip on us. Our newest Share and Win! contest, SnagAJob.com’s Grand Getaway Giveaway, is a little different than those we’ve held in the past—and by different, we mean way cooler. Here’s the scoop: We want you to film a short video telling us why you deserve to win $1,000 toward the vacation of your dreams. Upload your flick to any video sharing site, send us the link and keep your fingers crossed. We get to choose the finalists, but the public will vote for and choose the grand prize winner. One lucky hourly worker or job seeker will snag the cash and the opportunity to take a dream vacation, courtesy of SnagAJob.com. If you’re chosen as one of our finalists, make sure you tell your friends, family and even strangers out on the street to vote for your video. If that doesn’t work, we suggest bribing them with baked goods—no one can resist a good snickerdoodle. And hey, if you don’t win, at least you’ll have a shot at reality show producers catching a glimpse of you on film and turning you into the next Lauren Conrad—we just hope you give us a shout-out on the red carpet. Read the rest of the rules and find out how to submit your video now! And don’t forget to keep up your job search to earn some extra money for beach towels and travel shampoo.

Thanks to all you job seekers who sent in stories of your toughest jobs. We’ve got to give credit where credit is due—everyone who submitted an entry has some seriously hard jobs, and you deserve a big ol’ pat on the back. But there can only be one winner, and that winner is Tyler Barnes. Tyler is a wild land firefighter from Arizona who braves extreme heat to keep people’s out of harm’s way. We like to think of him as a modern day superhero—and we’re sure he wouldn’t mind it if you called him that, too.

Here’s Tyler’s winning story:

“My job is one of the hardest and most dangerous jobs out there: I am a wild land firefighter. I fight forest fires in 102 degree weather carrying a 45-pound backpack up mountains. We hike for hours to get to a fire, carrying tools such as chainsaws, axes and rakes. At least four wild land firefighters die each year fighting fires that cover 1,000 acres or more. When we fight large fires, like those in California and Arizona, we are away from our families for weeks. We sustain injuries like burns from falling embers, cuts and bruises, and twisted ankles, but we have to continue to hike and dig line because there are no hospitals or doctors out in the woods. I also have a disability that makes the job very difficult for me: I am half deaf, which makes it hard to hear when multiple things are going on at once. I believe I have the hardest job out of everyone I know.”

Sounds like it could be the start of an upcoming summer blockbuster, don’t you think? Just make sure you leave us a supporting role, Tyler.

Congratulations to our winner, who will walk away from this contest $300 richer! And if you didn’t hit the jackpot this time around, make sure you enter our newest Share and Win! contest just in time for Halloween by sharing you scariest on-the-job moment.

• Now is the best time to start your job search for seasonal jobs.

It’s October, which means it’s time to brush up on your pumpkin-carving skills because Halloween is on its way. In honor of this spooky season, our latest job seeker contest is all about thrills, spills and chills: We want to hear about your scariest on-the-job moment.

Did a coworker put a fake spider in your cash register drawer? Ever send a “personal” email to your boss on accident? Whatever it was that sent shivers down your spine at work, we want you to tell us all about it!

If you need a little inspiration, here’s a story that gave us goosebumps:

“I have a job in a convenient store and often have to work the overnight shift. I’m a little afraid of the dark, especially when I’m alone, and my store is off the highway in the middle of nowhere—kind of spooky. During one of my shifts, around two in the morning, no one was in the store and I had to use the restroom. After I went into the first stall and closed the door, the lights suddenly turned off and everything was pitch black. Then I heard footsteps and someone started violently shaking the door to my stall, as if they were trying to get in. I was too scared to move, speak or even breathe. The shaking stopped and the lights were switched on, but my body was still trembling. Then I heard a familiar voice say, ‘Gotcha, Anna!’ I sprung out of the stall to find my two best friends who knew I was working the late shift and figured I’d be a little jumpy. I have to give them credit—to this day, I have never been so scared!”

Pretty freaky, huh? But we know that you can top even this terrifying tale, so send in your submissions before the bell strikes midnight on Oct. 31 for your chance to win a $300 American Express gift card. You could buy a pretty tricked-out Halloween costume with that kind of dough.

We want to give a big thanks to everyone who submitted stories of quirky coworkers in our last Share & Win! contest. It was a tough decision, but after reading over all the entries, we have declared a winner: Congratulations to Beverly Carrington, whose story includes an animal-loving coworker who turned her office into a rescue shelter.

Quirky coworkers definitely help make our days at work more interesting — here’s Beverly’s entry of an eccentric employee who takes the “birds of a feather” expression a little too seriously:

“My coworker is an animal lover and sometimes she picks up strays. One particular day I heard something in her cubicle, so I went to investigate. She picked up a baby bird that had fallen from its nest from a tree in her yard that morning before she came to work. She put the bird in a shoe box with a blanket to keep it warm, and during the day she caught crickets, broke their legs and fed the little bird. I couldn’t believe it. She also calls her home phone on a daily basis and talks to her answering machine so that her dogs can hear her voice. For example, I once heard her say, “Scooter, how is my baby, how is my baby doing? Red, are you being a good boy? Snowball, how is my precious baby? Mama will be home soon, Mama loves you.”

And we’re sure those little pooches love their mama right back. Beverly will walk away with a $300 American Express gift card to buy her coworker a luxury birdhouse or some gourmet dog biscuits.

• Don’t forget to check out our latest Share & Win contest: Design your own Afterthoughts ecard.

• ALSO: Start your search for part-time jobs now.

Are you super creative with a sense of humor that rivals Will Ferrell? Can you come up with ultra-witty quips in your sleep? If you answered yes to these questions—or even if you didn’t—you’ve got to check out our latest Share & Win! contest: Design your own Afterthought.

If you don’t know what Afterthoughts are all about, here’s the rundown: We here at SnagAJob.com have launched our own line of free ecards called Afterthoughts, designed specifically for America’s workforce. They’re customizable, don’t cost a penny and most importantly, they’re totally hilarious.

Now we’re passing the creative torch onto you, the job seeker, and asking you to come up with your very own ecard. It can be sarcastic or wacky, cynical or silly—as long as it represents you as a member of today’s working world. All you have to do is visit our Off the Clock section, click the “Enter now” link and fill out the form provided. If your Afterthought is chosen by our not-so-esteemed panel of judges, you’ll be on your way to basking in the glow of your 15 minutes of fame, courtesy of SnagAJob.com. As if the fame weren’t enough, we’ll even add in some fortune. You could also win a $500 American Express gift card—we recommend using it for a new pair of sunglasses to shield your eyes from all the paparazzi’s flashing cameras.

We’ll be announcing the winner of our last contest for the quirkiest coworker later this week, so check back soon. So what are you waiting for? Submit your Afterthought between now and midnight on Aug. 31 for your chance to win.

There’s some good news today for hourly workers who are being paid the minimum wage—as of July 24, 2008, the federal minimum wage will see an increase of 70 cents, jumping from $5.85 to $6.55. If you’re a full-time employee working 40 hours a week, you’ll earn $2,392 more a year compared to the old wage.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 2 percent of all hourly workers are paid minimum wage. This includes 55-plus workers who use their hourly wages to supplement the money they receive from social security and retirement. Senior workers face costs that most teens haven’t even thought of—supporting a family, medications and other health care expenses.

But no matter what your age, this jump couldn’t come at a more perfect time, with national average gas prices rising to over $4.00 a gallon, and inflation rates quickly climbing. However, there is more good news is on the horizon for minimum wage workers: Next summer wages will increase to $7.25, another 70-cent leap.

Even if you don’t work a job that pays minimum wage, you could still benefit from the raises—in order to keep up with these increases, NPR reports that temporary part-time and entry-level workers may see a pay raise as well. The only downside to this plan is that many consumers are worried that businesses will pass on wage increases in the form of higher prices.

• ALSO: Search for part-time jobs and get job advice on asking for a raise.

If your cell phone ringtone of a police car siren is freaking out your neighbors and making your grandma’s hearing aid go berserk, we’ve got just the thing for you. Be the envy of all your friends (and tired neighbors) with the new SnagAJob.com ringtone, a catchy little ditty that will motivate you to get off the couch and land the job you deserve. Or at least dance around your living room with a hairbrush as a microphone.

Here’s how you do it, all laid out in four easy steps:

Step 1. Click here to listen to the song—the preview should open in Windows Media Player. If not, you may need to update your player to the latest version, which only takes about a minute.

Step 2. As soon as you click the link, a box will pop up asking if you want to open the file or save it to a disk. Choose the “Save to disk” option and click “OK.” The file will then be saved to your computer and will appear as an icon on your desktop. You can also right click on the link to the song and choose “Save Link As” to save directly to your desktop.

Step 3. If you already have a program that you use to convert your music files into ringtones, go ahead and use that. If you don’t have such a program, don’t sweat it. Here are some free sites we recommend that will do the trick:

• Make Your Own Ringtones
• Lifehacker – How to create your own ringtone
• Audacity – Free audio editor and recorder

Step 4. Follow the steps on whichever site you choose. If you have a smart phone, like a Blackberry, you can email yourself the file and set it as your ringtone right on your phone. All other phones require a USB cable that may have come with your phone when you first got it, but sometimes must be purchased separately. Read your phone’s owner’s manual if you’re unsure.

There you have it, instructions to getting the most popular ringtone among Hollywood celebrities like David “The Hoff” Hasslehoff and political superstars like Ralph Nader. Well, they actually probably don’t have it…yet.

Let us know if you downloaded our rockin’ ringtone to your phone by leaving us a comment below.

• Want to show off your awesome new ringtone to your coworkers…but don’t have a job yet? Search for part-time jobs now.

Is your fridge so stocked you could weather out a tornado and an earthquake - and still have food leftover for Thanksgiving? Do you hate when your favorite clothing store doesn’t have your size on the floor and you have to track down a busy associate to check the back? Then a position as a stock clerk may be your perfect fit. All you need is a friendly personality and quick reflexes and you’re ready to call the storage room your home away from home.

Learn more about what it takes to be a stock clerk by checking out our latest JobBuddy. JobBuddies are our little pals that help teens find jobs that fit their busy schedules. Our newest stock clerk JobBuddy is a perfect fit for students on summer break who are looking to beat the heat inside and enjoy a casual work environment. You may even be able to score an employee discount while you’re at it.

Check our stock clerk JobBuddy and all the other JobBuddies for the coolest teen jobs and summer jobs around.

• Find more student jobs now and read our first job guide.

Each month in Off the Clock, our job seeker community section, we host a Share & Win! contest ripe with fabulous prizes and hilarious (and sometimes very embarrassing) stories. In June, we asked you to share your worst job interview stories. When we received your tales of opportunity flushed down the toilet (sometimes literally), we laughed, we cried, we cringed. We also had to take a cold shower and rent a priest afterward.

Job interviews can unfortunately be tough, grueling and unforgiving. And those are the positive ones. Luckily, they can sometimes be fun, uplifting experiences that you can one day look back on as highlights of your working life. But enough with all the positive positivity…

Our worst job interview accolades go to Melissa D. of Baltimore, MD. We’re pretty sure that the next time she goes dress shopping before a big interview, she’ll be all the wiser:

Last July, I had an interview for a promotion and decided to treat myself to a new dress. I found it at local “designer discount” store. The label was removed but it was a bargain, and it really was adorable: a black short-sleeved chemise with white polka dots. I had no idea what the fabric was, but the price was right and I decided to go for it. The day of my interview, the combination of my frock’s mystery fabric and the humidity of summertime in Baltimore made me sweat. My underarms felt wet, but I didn’t think any of the three people on the interview panel could tell; that is, until I got back to my office and my friend Patty exclaimed, “Oh my Gosh!” and dragged me into the bathroom. In the mirror, I saw in horror what my interviewers must have seen: My perspiration had reacted with something in the fabric and turned the armpits of my dress BRIGHT PURPLE! I wanted to die (or dye!). Patty didn’t even try to convince me that it wasn’t that bad, because it was. I didn’t get the promotion, and to this day, Patty calls me “Pits” when she wants to get a rise out of me. –Melissa D.

Melissa will go home with a $500 American Express gift card to buy a new work wardrobe and a gallon of bleach. “Thank you so much for turning my worst interview catastrophe into something I can now be proud of!” she told SnagAJob.com.

Good luck, Pits!

• Enter our new Share & Win! contest: Think you’ve got the quirkiest co-worker? Tell us about it and win a $300 American Express gift card.
• Also: Find job interview tips and search for retail jobs

Thanks to everyone who submitted their stories of interviews gone wrong for our last Share and Win! contest. From a flat-out rude interviewer who made one applicant cry to a job seeker who lost his lunch on a hiring manager’s lap, we had a great time reading each and every entry. But we do hope your future job interviews will be much less grueling. Now that the deadline has passed, it’s time to introduce a brand spanking new contest, so get your creative juices flowing: We want to hear about your quirkiest co-worker.

Does the guy in the stock room look like a body builder but collects unicorn figurines in his spare time? Does the girl who works the drive-thru build small houses out of condiment packets on her lunch break? Or maybe your retail manager has an imaginary friend named Phil who advises her on selling strategy. Send in your stories of the most peculiar person you’ve ever worked with, and you could win a $300 gift card to take them out to dinner and celebrate their uniqueness, or even buy them a vintage glass unicorn.

Here’s an example of what we’re looking for:

While working for a consumer electronics store, I had a co-worker, Jay, who prided himself on being EXTREME! He lived loud, dressed louder (think tight Hawaiian shirts) and scared away every woman within 30 yards of his awful Burt Reynolds’ mustache. One time he invited me out to lunch – and he wanted to drive. Jay’s ride was a lipstick red IROC-Z with a vanity license plate that read, “AWSOMMM.” But that wasn’t enough; Jay also had a matching mini rubber license plate keychain with the same inscription. After I triple-checked that my seatbelt was secure, Jay revved the engine and blasted some German techno music that would even make David Hasselhoff cringe. I thought once we hit 88 mph, we’d leap into the future, but instead we were just in a Burger King parking lot.

These people may be unusual, but they sure do make the workplace an interesting place to be. You can submit your story between now and 11:59 p.m. on July 31 for your chance to win. And while you’re at it, send funny ecards to those eccentric employees to let them know how much you appreciate everything they do.