It only makes sense that, because we’re helping people find great new gigs, we should love our jobs. We’re not talking about a crush, “like like” or even mild infatuation. We’re talking about love. The big ‘L’ bomb.
And we do love our jobs. There’s something deeply gratifying about helping America’s hourly job seekers find employment. In fact, SnagAJob.com was just named one of the Top 50 Small & Medium Companies to Work for in America. And we owe a great deal of this honor to our millions of job seekers who motivate us daily.
Every time you send us an email proclaiming, “I got a job!” we circulate it through the office. Every time we hear from employers about how great SnagAJob.com job seekers are, it makes us warm and tingly inside. And we just wanted to say…thanks!
Thanks for helping us achieve this awesome honor. We’d invite you to share some of the celebratory cake we got, but it’s made of ice cream. It’s delicious. And we already ate it all. Maybe next time…
Ever stared blankly at a birthday card for a co-worker…not exactly sure what to write?
Ever wanted to thank a friend for finding you a horrific job, but just couldn’t find the words?
Thankfully, there are Afterthoughts, a new collection of customizable e-cards that make working classy.
Afterthoughts are free, easy and sure to impress everyone from your deadbeat roommate to that co-worker who took your shift when you had gout last summer.
So saddle up, get your creative juices flowing and leave the stamps at home…
The gang from “Beverly Hills 90210” chilled at The Peach Pit when the going got tough. The ladies from “The Hills” crash at mommy and daddy’s million dollar vacation pads when money can’t buy happiness. And when President Bush gets bummed over his approval rating, he can golf, fish and play the Risk board game deep in the heart of his Crawford, Texas ranch.
Everyone needs somewhere to hang out and relax. To reflect and move forward. And now America’s hourly workers and job seekers have Off the Clock. Think of it as yoga for your paycheck. Sure, the beanbag chairs and the old school “Donkey Kong” arcade game haven’t arrived yet, but please make yourself comfortable.
Within the walls of Off the Clock – SnagAJob.com’s new community/hangout for hourly workers and job seekers – you’ll find a ton of resources for both your working life, as well as the hours before and after you punch the clock: Connect to our MySpace profile and accelerate your job search. Get personal finance tips, hourly job news and plenty of punch lines in SnagABlog.com, our job search advice blog. And even send us your job stories, read others and win prizes in our new Share & Win! section.
Have fun. Tell your friends. And be sure to check back often. Off the Clock is a work in progress and we’ll be adding cool new features in the near future. We welcome your ideas; if you have any, please send them here.
As far as we’re concerned, working moms are the original multi-taskers. Heck, 130,000 years ago, Encino Women (like Betty & Wilma) were responsible for raising junior, cave-keeping and turning the speared mammoth into dinner. (Thankfully, Geico spared her likeness prime-time embarrassment – unlike her lesser half.) Flash forward to modern day dual roles, where mom spends days at the workplace and nights with the kids, and it’s a historical timeline of long hours and little sleep.
That’s why you deserve a little extra something this year, mom.
If you’re a working mom looking to follow your passion or move up the job ladder, then you should check out Project Working Mom, which has gathered $2 million in scholarship booty that will be distributed to moms looking to get quality online learning at a price cut.
And in order to cover the rest of your tuition bill and book costs, be sure check out the working mom jobs and part-time jobs at SnagAJob.com.
When Carl Edwards finally claimed the checkered flag at the NEXTEL Cup’s Auto Club 500 on Monday, the race was a day late – and luckily for the soaking wet hourly workers who did the extra day’s work – not a dollar short.
NASCAR and its fans are completely dependent on the thousands of hourly workers who fuel the concession stands, parking lots and merchandise booths every race weekend. (And don’t forget the armies of clean-up crews collecting cans, half-eaten beer brauts and defaced Jeff Gordon T-shirts.)
Luckily for NASCAR, these workers are available at a moment’s notice. At least that was the case in California last weekend, when rain delayed the race a day. That’s no minor delay when you consider how many people and parts make up NASCAR’s travelling circus on wheels.
Delays can be very costly for NASCAR and other sports that do rain dances in reverse every time the clouds gather on game day. (Just start adding up workers in your head and multiplying by dollar signs.) But shelling out to keep the workers around to help feed, park and clean up after the fans is a small price to pay for the type of loyalty that causes a 50-year-old man to wear an M&M’s Racing jersey in public.
Don’t judge a job by its uniform or its pop culture portrayal.
Take our spin on an alternative (yet still accurate) description of this popular hourly gig:
Seeking versatile workplace vet who’s available nights and has experience dismantling potential bio-hazards. Candidates should be light on their feet, able to lift heavy objects and trustworthy enough to keep valuable company secrets.
Can you guess who this is? If you’ve got an answer – or you give up – check here.
Start with two country icons. Add lyrics tailor-made for hourly workers. Then borrow Jimmy Buffett’s steel drums (Please ask him first).
You’ve got “Shiftwork,” a country ditty from Kenny Chesney and George Strait. Think “Cheeseburger in Paradise” meets “Chain Gang.”
“Shiftwork” is an homage to convenience store clerks, restaurant servers and construction foremen who work all hours, and it currently sits at No. 9 on the country music charts.
We happen to think “Shiftwork” is a great anthem for America’s 70 million hourly workers. And we’ve included the video below for your viewing pleasure. (Just think – if Chesney was still married to Renée Zellweger, it could have been Bridget Jones who was dolled up in that scandalous red “work wear.”)
One man’s holiday trash is another man’s…holiday trash. That man happens to be the trash man – errr, refuse collector – who this time of year is busier than Santa’s travel agent on the day after Xmas.
In fact, more than 25 million tons of extra trash accumulates between Thanksgiving and New Year’s each year. That’s a lot of wrapping paper, empty egg nog cartons and photo greeting cards from your ex. And that’s a 25 percent spike in our national trash habit.
Garbage collectors aren’t the only hourly workers working extra hard this holiday season. From retail return workers to restaurant cooks and Zamboni drivers, millions of Americans are picking up the holiday slack. If you’re taking some well earned time off over the holidays, we’re not trying to give you a guilt trip. We just want to remind you to be thankful for the gaggle of workers out there making sure America stays up and running during your holiday slumber.
There are a lot of reasons people complain about the post-Thanksgiving kick-off to the holiday shopping season dubbed Black Friday. There are the long lines, crowded stores and the 4:30 a.m. wake-up call to make sure you don’t get stuck buying everyone on your list Chia Pets…again. (It’s even harder to wake up when you O.D. on tryptophan, that little chemical in turkey that makes you drowsier than watching “Christmas with the Kranks.”)
If you think it’s rough shopping at a mega-retailer on the day after Thanksgiving, well just imagine working there. In the spirit of the holidays, we wanted to offer up America’s early bird shoppers (Awful pun intended…) a few tips and bits ‘o advice for a successful (and well mannered) black Friday shopping adventure:
• Be nice: Yes, you! We know you’re tired and cranky and you’re not happy that your laundry room has been taken over by crazy Aunt Mildred’s cats and their three-story litter box. But before you honk at that mini-van only doing 10 mph over the speed limit or roll your eyes at the sales clerk moving a little too slow for you, take a breath and smile. • Eat something. Pack a turkey sandwich for the road or be sure to stop for lunch. Nothing makes you grumpier than waiting in line on an empty stomach. • Wear something comfy. Maybe not a bathrobe or the “I’m with stupid” T-shirt, but nothing with tails, either. • Remember: It’s just stuff. Seriously. You don’t need to have a foot race down a Wal-Mart aisle against a couple of soccer moms to grab that last discounted laptop. Although if you’re going to, you better make sure you win.
Holiday shopping fun fact: By the way, the Saturday before Christmas is actually the busiest shopping day of the year. So if you sleep in until noon and throw down a hot turkey sandwich or two while avoiding the relatives in the basement all day, you’ll still have your chance for big sales and public embarrassment.
If you’re running for president, and you eat a meal out in public, you best be sure you pay and tip in front of the cameras.
Just ask Hillary Clinton. (Well, just ask her spokesperson.)
At SnagABlog.com, we don’t take sides when it comes to politics. But we do pay attention. A recent story on npr.org caught our attention because of its connection to a now suddenly famous hourly worker. We’ll let you read the drama for yourself, which is a tale about a small town single mom working as a waitress at a greasy spoon diner. One day she waited on Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton and she wasn’t tipped… Or was she? Be sure to read the whole story.
The point is this: It shouldn’t take a headline-making run-in and mix-up with a famous politician to remind people to tip and respect wait staff – and all of America’s hourly workers. Or that many people are working two and even three jobs just to get by. But it often does take stories such as these to serve as a reality check. We’re pretty sure that Hillary Clinton will never forget…even if she did tip $100.
It only makes sense that, because we’re helping people find great new gigs, we should love our jobs. We’re not talking about a crush, “like like” or even mild infatuation. We’re talking about love. The big ‘L’ bomb.
