Working Papers: A first-time job seeker’s B.F.F.

It seems that everything these days comes with instructions: toaster ovens, exercise equipment and – heck – even mac & cheese.

Well, almost everything. First jobs don’t come with a free helpful guide. Until now…

SnagAJob.com has written “Working Papers” with the goal of helping all those soon-to-be hourly workers who have tons of questions but no answers.

Whether you’re curious about how many hours you can legally work each week or you demand to know why the amount on your paycheck looks suspiciously small, we have all the answers – well, all the answers about first jobs. We can’t tell you if opossum is safe to cook in that new toaster oven. Sorry, check the instruction book.

• Read “Working Papers” – a guide for first time job seekers
• Read more tips for finding teen jobs, student jobs and summer jobs.

At SnagAJob.com, we’d never encourage you to slack off on the job (or watch the NCAA tourney on the clock). But sometimes, you need to blow off some steam. But dropping the boss’ cell phone in the deep fryer can get you canned. And chit-chatting about “Dancing with the Stars” besides the coffee pot is just lame.

That’s why you come up with workplace games. It all began eons ago when the first bored worker balled up a sheet of 8 ½ X 11 printer paper and tossed up a desperation “three-pointer” from behind the copier. They missed, of course, then shot again and again. Since then, the balled up piece of paper has been replaced by the burnt chicken nugget, the busted coat hanger and the empty oil can.

Through the years, some of these on-the-job games have fared better than other. Some of the losers include Grocery Aisle Cantaloupe Bowling and Bank Teller Water Gun Wars (Who knew?) But we want to know about the winners. What games do you play at work before things get busy or right after they slow down? Ever played tic tac toe against your boss with a mop and a soapy floor?

And if you still haven’t come up with a game, use the below Mini X Games video as an example. Break a leg! (Disclaimer: If you do break a leg, you never read this blog.)

Also: Search for teen jobs and working mom jobs now.

Bad job interview stories are fun to share over S’mores and campfires. Of course, you need a six-month grace period to get over the embarrassment, change your name and get a new haircut.

Even SnagABlogger - yes, that’s me - remembers being an earnest, bright-eyed 17-year-old and applying for a job at a hardware store. Under the watchful eye of a manager, I was asked to complete a series of timed, written exercises. Before the first question, directions in bold stated, “PLEASE READ ALL QUESTIONS BEFORE ANSWERING.”

Of course, I thought these directions were just for amateurs. I confidently smiled at the interviewer, and began scribbling madly, not sure how I would finish 20 questions in a mere five minutes. Finally, when I got to Question # 20, I dropped my pencil. The question stated:

“We hope you followed the directions and read all the questions before writing anything down. Now, only answer question No. 14 and leave all others blank.”

I flipped the pencil over, but there was no eraser. Doh.

As the interviewer smirked and said something about how following instructions was so important in his line of work, I slunk in my seat and left the room unemployed and embarrassed.

There’s actually a popular list of embarrassing shenanigans floating through the Internet thanks to some HR professionals.

Here a few of the highlights:

• “Applicant challenged interviewer to arm wrestle.”

• “Interrupted to phone his therapist for advice on answering specific interview questions.”

• “While I was on a long-distance phone call, the applicant took out a copy of Penthouse, and looked through the photos only, stopping longest at the centerfold.”

• “An applicant came in wearing only one shoe. She explained that the other shoe was stolen off her foot in the bus.”

• “… she threw-up on my desk, and immediately started asking questions about the job, like nothing had happened.”

As long as you learn from your mistakes, don’t sweat the gaffes that can occur in these high pressure situations. But if you forget to wear pants to more than two interviews, you might want to consider requesting a phone interview.

Check out SnagAJob.com job interview tips.

You might have seen Ed “The Lizardman” Sprague, a professional human side show act and late-night TV mainstay with full body tattoos, sharpened teeth and even a cosmetically altered lizard tongue. But could Ed strap on a cute blue vest and a “Lizardman” nametag, and get hired as a Wal-Mart greeter?

SnagABlog.com recently received an email from a job seeker named Samantha who was concerned that her exposed tattoos and piercings would prevent her from finding a job. Specifically, she asked about an unnamed national company explicitly stating that applicants with visible tattoos and body piercings wouldn’t be considered for employment.

Can private-sector employer make such demands of potential workers? They can and they do, although more and more employees who feel discriminated against are fighting back, and sometimes winning, especially those who cite religious reasons for their body jewelry and ink. In other words, it’s becoming a gray area.

One reason for this trend is that more Americans are inked up than you might have thought. According to a Pew Research study, more than a third between 18 and 25 have tattoos, with this jumping to 40 percent for those between 26 and 40 years old.

Here are a few tips for making sure your body art doesn’t make an ink blotch on your résumé:

• Do research. In some jobs, such as bartenders and high-tech gigs, you might stick out if you don’t have a tattoo. But others, especially customer service and retail jobs, often frown upon the “I Love Mom” tattoo on your neck. If you’re already employed, ask your boss if getting new body accessories will in any way affect your employment.

• Choose your spots carefully. By getting tattoos in spots easily covered by uniforms and work clothes – such as your back, shoulder and ankle – they’ll likely never be an issue. And even piercings can be obscured by swapping them out for clear or flesh-colored plastic stunt doubles.

Do you have any stories about tattoos or piercings at the workplace? If so, we’d love for you to share them with us. Comment below or send us an email.

We have an idea for a new Mentos commercial. A smiling doorman is greeting residents passing in and out of a NYC apartment building. But his breath is a big pungent. So pungent in fact, that he gets suspended from his job by a mean old boss. Luckily, the doorman finds a pack of Mentos, gobbles a few down, and it ends in one smiling, happy freeze frame.

That’s what happened to New York doorman Jonah Seeman – except he never got those Mentos. You might have heard the story of the 60-year-old doorman who was suspended for allegedly having halitosis (bad breath). Now his boss, Cooper Square Realty, is the one emitting the foul smell, as the story has gotten great traction in newspapers and in the Blogosphere.

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.

Good luck!

A study conducted by Florida State management faculty found that workers with abusive bosses had a lower on-the-job performance than employees with fair bosses.

Here are the results from the study of workers who reported to have an abusive boss:

• 30% slowed down or purposely made errors
• 27% purposely hid from the boss
• 33% confessed to not putting in maximum effort
• 29% took sick time off even when not ill
• 25% took more or longer breaks

Maybe your boss takes away your “mojo.” Whatever the reason, having a job where you feel like under-performing isn’t good for your wellbeing or your career. If you aren’t happy at your job, you aren’t learning. If you aren’t learning, you aren’t going to advance. If you don’t advance, your chances of making more money are limited. If you don’t like your job, get a new one. We can help with that job search.

In this edition of SnagABlog, we’re sticking with the workplace manners theme we began earlier this week…Gossip is American as apple pie, state fairs and $5 cups of coffee.

Turn on MTV, flip through your fav celebrity magazine or just turn on the news and gossip is everywhere you look and listen, including the workplace. And while it may be OK to swap half-truths and hushed stories in the hair salon or locker room, it’s definitely not cool to do it at work.

According to a recent SnagAJob.com poll, nearly 20 percent of respondents found “the gossip hound” to be the most annoying co-worker from among the five choices given. (The other options were the slacker, the kiss-up, the hypochondriac and the loud talker).

Now the gossip hounds are annoying themselves, too. That is, if you consider getting fired to be annoying. If you’re still not convinced that loose lips sink jobs, then a March headline-making incident in the Northeast should be ample proof that employers are growing less and less tolerant of workplace gossip. You might have heard how four employees of a small New Hampshire town, each of whom had stellar employment records, were fired after allegedly fueling a workplace rumor - a rumor that reportedly put a co-worker’s marriage and career in jeopardy. (One worker was recently rehired; others are suing).

Talk about poetic justice; these four coworkers became the subject of rumor and speculation of their own when their petty little tale spilled onto CNN and other national news media.

Sure, that’s a worst-case scenario, but there are other risks when you spend more time dishing the office scoop than doing dishes on the clock. Coworkers can lose trust in you, your office friendships may crumble, and you could soon be in the break room all by your lonesome talking to the water cooler.

It always happens when you’re smack-dab in the middle of extreme concentration – a co-worker’s cell phone triggers the loudest, most annoying ring tone ever. Sometimes it’s an Avril Lavigne song. Other times it’s the “Baywatch” theme. Occassionally, it’s the “Macarena.”

If a recent SnagAJob.com poll is any indication, cell phones are very, very popular with the employees fueling America’s hourly jobs. More than 80 percent of 4,800 respondents stated that the cell phone was the gadget they couldn’t live without, with the iPod coming in second with 13 percent of the vote, and TiVo bringing up the rear with 7 percent of the vote.

As more states enact laws banning handset use while driving, and schools also continue prohibiting cell phone usage, there are fewer and fewer acceptable places to make calls. Even workplaces are getting in the game; according to a poll published in USA Today, 30 percent of companies have put some sort of cell phone kibosh into place.

What’s it all mean? A few things. First off, if you’re guilty of chatting on the phone while you’re supposed to be working, or even having your text message alarm go off every five minutes, then you’re ruining it for the rest of us who just want to call home once a day to see if we’re supposed to pick up milk on the way home. Also, it may not be long before cell phone abusers are considered worse co-workers than chronic knuckle crackers, bubble gum blasters, slackers or kiss-ups.